LONDON — A former top civil servant claimed that Johnson’s office was not telling the truth about Johnson’s handling of allegations of misconduct against a senior government official.
Johnson is being pressured to clarify his knowledge about past misconduct allegations by Chris Pincher. Pincher quit as deputy chief whip after Pincher was accused of groping two men at a private party.
Over the last five days, the government has changed its explanation. Ministers initially stated that Johnson was unaware of previous allegations of sexual misconduct. Pincher was promoted to the position of deputy chief whip in February. A spokesman for Johnson said Monday that he knew of allegations that were either resolved or not advanced to a formal complaint.
Simon McDonald, who was the highest ranking civil servant at the Foreign Office between 2015 and 2020, did not like this. He said that the prime minister’s office was still not telling the truth in a very unusual statement.
McDonald’s wrote to the standards commissioner in parliament, stating that he had received complaints from Pincher about his behavior during the summer 2019, just after Pincher was appointed Foreign Office minister. McDonald’s said that Pincher had apologized after an investigation was conducted.
McDonald’s also denied that Johnson knew about the allegations, or that Johnson could have dismissed them because they had not been resolved.
McDonald’s wrote that the original No. McDonald’s wrote that the original No. “Mr. Johnson was given an in-person briefing about the investigation’s initiation and end result.
“There was a formal complaint. Mr. Pincher was not exonerated. It is wrong to call the allegations ‘unsubstantiated’.
Dominic Raab, Justice Secretary of Justice, said that he did not know whether Johnson was informed about the Foreign Office investigation. Raab, who was at that time foreign secretary, worked with McDonald’s on the inquiry.
Raab said, “That’s new to me,” when Raab was asked about McDonalds’ assertion that Johnson had been informed about the investigation. “I didn’t know about that, and it’s unclear to me that this is factually correct.”
Johnson’s Cabinet is discontented by the latest revelations. Ministers were forced to make public denials of the prime minister, only for the explanation to shift the next day.
The Times of London published Tuesday’s analysis of the situation under “Claim of lying puts Boris Johnson at risk.”
This scandal unfolds a month after Johnson was defeated in a vote to oust him from office by more than 40% Conservative Party lawmakers. Johnson’s leadership was questioned by his shifting responses to months-long allegations of lockdown-breaking parties within government offices. These accusations eventually led to 126 fines, one against Johnson.
Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were badly defeated in two by-elections for vacant seats in Parliament. This further fueled discontent at Johnson’s leadership.
Pincher, who was deputy chief whip and a crucial position in enforcing discipline party-wise, quit on Thursday. He told the prime minister that Pincher had “drank far to much” the night before and had “embarrassed himself and others.”
Johnson initially refused the step of suspending Pincher, Conservative Party member, but he changed his mind after a formal complaint was made to the parliamentary authorities about the groping allegations.
Critics believe Johnson didn’t react quickly to the scandal as he didn’t want to force Pincher to resign. This could have led to another special election loss for the Conservatives.
There were rumors that Johnson could soon be up for a second vote of no confidence even before the Pincher scandal.
The next few weeks will see new Conservative lawmakers elected to the committee that creates the party’s parliamentary rules. Many candidates suggested that they support the modification of the rules to allow another vote for no confidence. This is currently prohibited for 12 months by the existing rules.
Roger Gale, a senior Conservative lawmaker and a long-standing opponent of Johnson, stated that he now supports a change in the rules of The Conservative 1922 Committee to allow for the vote.
“Mr. Johnson has been sending ministers, in one instance a cabinet minister, out to defend the undefended and to lie for him for three days. He told BBC that this cannot continue. “This prime minister has tarnished the reputation of an honorable and proud party for honesty, decency, which is unacceptable.”
