Invest in another one sex scandal of British politics, the government of Boris Johnson Falling apart. Two key executive ministers resigned resignation in a dispute with the Prime Minister. After the Minister of Health Sajid JavidThe Chancellor of the Exchequer has also resigned Rishi Sunak, de facto number two on the Tory team and in charge of economic policy. The government is at the center of the scandal rocking the earthquake Chris Pincher, forced to resign as Deputy Chief Whip and given the crucial task of overseeing the discipline of the majority faction in the House of Commons: he is accused of getting drunk in one London Gentlemen’s Club and then have molested two menincluding another deputy.
Johnson’s justification and then an apology – Johnson was made aware of suspicions of similar incidents over two years ago promote pinchers. Today, he initially claimed to have known about those suspicions but forgotten them: an attempt at justification that failed to convince Javid, who resigned as health secretary, he said can no longer “serve in good conscience in this government“. Soon after, the step came back sunak. So the prime minister tried to make things right, apologizing for not torpedoing former deputy minister Pincher two years ago. Johnson recognized it as “a mistake“Pincher’s retention on the Tory team following allegations about a similar earlier episode, which he himself now admits he was briefed on at the end of 2019; and has assured that he does not want to give room for suspicion “sexual predator“In the executive branch. However, the Prime Minister’s apology risks being delayed.
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 prompted the opposition to attack again 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: The regression of two key ministers threatens to undermine their executive branch.
“Pincher by name, pincher by nature” – Many immediately pointed out that numerous party comrades had already referred to Chris Pincher as “potential harasser‘, 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’, meaning ‘to pinch’ or ‘to touch’. 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. After initial denials, he admitted speaking to a previous report of “inadequate behaviourAlready 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 “directly” involved the prime minister, since McDonald himself did not feel that he ultimately had to sanction the incident 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 place 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. After the double resignation from the government, the outcome could be very different.