What did Boris Johnson know about Chris Pincher before appointing him as deputy chief whip? That question has been haunting No. 10 ever since it emerged that Pincher allegedly groped two men at the Carlton Club last week – with previous allegations about Pincher’s behaviour coming to light in recent days.
So far the government line has been shaky to say the least. On Friday a government spokesperson said that the Prime Minister had been unaware of any specific allegations against Pincher before appointing him. That position shifted early this week, with the government then saying that Boris Johnson had been aware of media reports about Pincher, but they were ‘allegations that were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.’
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Now even that position appears to be falling apart. This morning the former Foreign Office chief mandarin, Lord McDonald of Salford, has publicly released a letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, alleging that formal complaints about Pincher’s behaviour were made in the summer of 2019.
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