The British Prime Minister finally admitted that he had been informed since 2019 about the investigation against the MP for sexual harassment
By Thanasis Gavou
Downing Street admitted that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson he was finally informed in 2019 of an investigation into Conservative MP Chris Pincher, following allegations of sexual harassment while he was Deputy Minister for Europe.
Both the representative of the prime minister’s office, however, and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Michael Ellis who was called to answer an opposition question in the House, argued that Mr Johnson had forgotten about that debate.
The case that has embarrassed the British Prime Minister involves Mr Pincher’s resignation as the government’s deputy head of party discipline after he punched two men in a party club while drunk.
Following revelations that it was not Mr Pincher’s first such misconduct and that the Prime Minister had been warned about the 52-year-old MP’s behaviour, the Prime Minister’s Office was asked to answer the question of what Mr Johnson knew before Mr Pincher was appointed to the government. .
Initially, the Downing Street replied that the Prime Minister was not aware of any “specific” complaint against the MP, while it was then stated that any complaint had been investigated.
However, the Secretary General of the Foreign Office in 2019 Simon MacDonald revealed today that Boris Johnson was personally informed of the complaint against Mr Pincher at the time.
He also stressed that Mr. Pincher was not cleared of the investigation, but simply given a recommendation.
“Last week, when new allegations emerged, the Prime Minister did not immediately recall the 2019 debate about the incident. As soon as he was reminded of it, the Number 10 press office corrected the public statements,” Mr Ellis told Parliament, then receiving pointed questions even from Conservative MPs,
The younger government line was later repeated by a government spokesman in the House of Lords and was met with laughter from members of the body, even in the government benches.
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