New crop for the government of Boris Johnsonhit by the umpteenth sex scandal of British politics. And this time it is the position of the prime minister himself that is deteriorating. At the center of the last story there is Chris Pincher, forced to resign as deputy chief whip and the crucial task of overseeing discipline of the majority faction in the House of Commons to get drunk in one London Gentlemen’s Club and then have molested two menincluding another deputy.
The scandals – For the conservative British is the latest sex scandal in chronological order: between an MP convicted sexual violenceanother who resigned for watching porn videos to Westminster arrested during parliamentary sessions and yet another rape. The Chris Pincher case has brought the opposition back on the attack work ready to point the finger at Johnson, who has already been heavily criticized for the so-called party gatethe gatherings organized at Downing Street in breach of the anti-Covid restrictions imposed by the same executive between 2020 and 2021. But this time the resignation of Deputy Chief Whip (a position associated in the kingdom system with the role of a member of the Toilet) were not enough and risk undermining BoJo’s own internal leadership in the Conservative Party. Johnson is actually accused Get Pincher covered.
“Pincher by name, pincher by nature” – Many immediately pointed out that numerous party comrades had already referred to Chris Pincher as “possible harassment‘, even while he was promoted last February Deputy Minister of Construction an assistant chief whip (a position he was also entrusted to in the past by Teresa May, after a previous suspicion was silenced in 2017). Even more so after the revelations of Dominic Cummingsformer adviser to Johnson with a poisoned tooth, according to which the Prime Minister himself called the damned “Pincher by name, pincher by nature“: Referring to the verb “pinch”, in the sense of “pinch”. But now Downing St was quick to deny that Johnson knew of any specific complaints against Chris Pincher.
“Boris is not telling the truth” – But now Boris Johnson’s situation is getting worse. In fact, he is now being accused of drawing from an earlier report of “inadequate behaviour“Already cracked down on his alleged ally in early 2020, although Downing Street denied the Prime Minister was aware of any formal complaints about Pincher but only rumors and suspicions. A line disputed by the Lord Simon McDonaldat the time of the facts Secretary General of Ministry of Foreign Affairswho sent a letter to Parliamentary Commission on ministerial standards of conduct, stating that the government “he is not telling the truth“. According to McDonald, the 2020 report was followed by an internal investigation entrusted to him, according to which this behavior was not worthy of disciplinary action, the deputy minister was “not exonerated” and had to “apologize”. Not only that: the former diplomat recalls, too Reported to the then Foreign Minister (and now Deputy Prime Minister) at the beginning and end of the affair. Dominik RaabHe said he was sure the same one informed Johnson because “he told me so”. In an interview, Raab immediately denied having involved the prime minister “directly”, since McDonald himself did not feel that the incident ultimately had to be sanctioned with disciplinary measures.
The vote of no confidence – A story that risks fueling the internal problems of the prime minister’s own party. Having evaded an internal vote of no confidence in his party leadership by a limited number a month ago, under the rules in force he would not risk another vote of no confidence if not in a year. But the latest news seems capable of reviving internal opposition at home Tory, where the rebels – according to the Times – are now aiming for a change in party rules with the idea of making a new proposal vote of no confidence on BoJo’s leadership as early as the end of the year, maybe the end of July. And this time, the outcome could be very different.