Downing Street has been accused of “telling the truth and crossing your fingers at the same time” over its handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
Lord McDonald, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, made the accusation this morning and urged No 10 to “come clean” as he claimed it had made untruthful statements about the affair.
Downing Street yesterday confirmed that Boris Johnson knew of concerns about Mr Pincher’s conduct when he made him deputy chief whip in February this year.
However, No 10 said the claims the PM knew about were “either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint”.
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, today confirmed that Mr Pincher was the subject of a complaint about alleged “inappropriate behaviour” when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019.
Lord McDonald said Mr Johnson was briefed “in person” about that investigation and “allegations were ‘resolved’ only in the sense that the investigation was completed; Mr Pincher was not exonerated”.
Follow the latest updates below.
09:19 AM
Dominic Raab ‘did not tell PM about Pincher complaint’
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, said he did not tell Boris Johnson about the complaint made against Chris Pincher when the latter was a Foreign Office minister in 2019.
Mr Raab, who was foreign secretary at the time, said he did inform the chief whip.
Asked if he told the PM about the investigation, Mr Raab told Sky News: “No, and I wouldn’t expect to in relation to something that fell below the bar of disciplinary action.
“What I did do was inform the chief whip because I do think it is important that we keep a proper record and I referred it to the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team because I wanted the assurance and that is not to say that I disagreed with the view of the permanent secretary or the Civil Service but because I attach such importance to those around and those who work with us having the confidence in the processes which are there to protect them.”
08:48 AM
Dominic Raab declines to set out nature of complaint
Dominic Raab was asked what the complaint was that was made against Chris Pincher when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019.
But the Deputy Prime Minister refused to be drawn, telling Sky News: “Just because I am respecting the confidentiality of the processes and those involved I don’t think it is right for me to go into that.”
08:47 AM
Dominic Raab confirms Pincher Foreign Office complaint
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, confirmed this morning that Chris Pincher was the subject of a complaint of “inappropriate behaviour” when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019.
Mr Raab, who was the foreign secretary at the time, said the complaint was investigated “under the Civil Service’s auspices” and it “did not recommend formal disciplinary action”.
Mr Raab said: “I spoke to Chris Pincher about the inappropriate behaviour and made it clear in no uncertain terms it should desist, it must never be repeated, so did the permanent secretary.
“For additional assurance, because I take this so seriously, I also referred it to the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team which also looked at it for example to see whether action was warranted under the ministerial code, they didn’t, they agreed that it didn’t warrant that.
“So although there was a complaint made about inappropriate behaviour it did not trigger the disciplinary action either at the Civil Service level or the Cabinet Office level in relation to the code of conduct.”
08:46 AM
Lord McDonald’s letter in full
08:45 AM
Ex-Foreign Office chief: PM was briefed ‘in person’ about Pincher complaint
Lord Simon McDonald, the former permanent secretary and head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign Office, has claimed Boris Johnson was briefed “in person” about an investigation into an allegation of “inappropriate behaviour” against Chris Pincher when the latter was a Foreign Office minister in 2019.
Lord McDonald of Salford has submitted a formal complaint to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone saying the account given by Downing Street of Mr Johnson’s handling of the scandal was “not true”.
In his letter Lord McDonald said: “Mr Johnson was briefed in person about the initiation and outcome of the investigation. There was a ‘formal complaint’.
“Allegations were ‘resolved’ only in the sense that the investigation was completed; Mr Pincher was not exonerated.”
Downing Street had said yesterday that Mr Johnson knew of concerns about Mr Pincher’s conduct when he made him deputy chief whip in February this year but the claims the PM knew about were “either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint”.
08:26 AM
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to today’s politics live blog.
Boris Johnson is under growing pressure over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
The PM will host a meeting of his Cabinet this morning but he is struggling to stabilise his premiership after the resignation of the deputy chief whip last week.
It promises to be a busy day in Westminster and I will guide you through the key developments.
