Chris Pincher: What we know so far, why the PM’s story keeps changing and media reaction!

The scandals keep coming for this prime minister, who is now facing accusations of lying over the Chris Pincher scandal. 

Chris Pincher was suspended as a Tory MP following allegations he groped two men at the Carlton Club in London on Wednesday evening. He has also quit as Tory deputy chief whip but states he has no plans to resign as an MP. 

But since then, six new claims of inappropriate behaviour have emerged. He claims he is seeking medical support and denies the allegations against him. 

How does the allegations against Chris Pincher relate to Boris Johnson?

Boris Johnson appointed Chris Pincher to the role of Tory deputy chief whip – a role that involves ensuring party discipline among Tory MPs in February. 

The PM was apparently not aware of “specific allegations” against Pincher at the time he appointed him Tory deputy chief whip, according to Therese Coffey, who claimed she had been given assurance by “somebody from the No 10 press office.”

But now No 10 has now said the PM was aware of allegations against Chris Pincher when he was appointed as deputy chief whip. 

A No 10 spokesperson said Boris Johnson was ‘aware’ but it would have been ‘not appropriate’ for him to step in.

They said: ‘I can’t get into too much detail but he did take advice on some of the allegations that had been made, but there was no formal complaint at that time and it was deemed not appropriate to stop an appointment simply because of unsubstantiated allegations.’

PM Boris Johnson had faced mounting pressure to confirm whether he knew about Mr Pincher’s past.

Did Boris Johnson know? – language ‘word salad’

The Guardian says “the Chris Pincher scandal started with the news that the deputy chief whip was resigning after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men last week. But the most important question for Boris Johnson is this: did he know that there were earlier claims of sexual misconduct, denied by Pincher when he gave him the job?

This is not complicated – but the answers have been. “The language is shifting every single day,” said Rowena Mason, the Guardian’s deputy political editor. “And yet they’re claiming that it’s all consistent. It’s smoke and mirrors.”

This morning, the Downing Street line got even harder to sustain after the BBC reported that Johnson was made aware of a “formal complaint” about “inappropriate behaviour” when he was a foreign office minister in 2019-20, a claim Pincher has not yet commented on. That seems to flatly contradict what No 10 has claimed.

Here’s how Downing Street’s defences have evolved since the story broke. Prepare for your head to spin” – (The Guardian) 

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Chris Pincher scandal and PM’s changing story – How the papers reacted

The UK newspapers have had a field day reporting on this evolving story and very serious allegations being made against Chris Pincher and the judgement and potential lies from Boris Johnson. 

It appears the prime minister has been caught out in a lie  – when he denied knowing the allegations about Pincher at the time of the February appointment. 

But for No 10, the lack of a formal complaint against Pincher seems to be their justification for appointing him to the role. 

The PM is the person who appoints their government, so Boris Johnson had the final call and it ultimately comes down to judgement – did Boris make the right call considering there were no formal complaints against Pincher at the time?

 The papers are fairly split on this story depending on whether they are left or right-leaning. The left-leaning papers are using language such as ‘No 10 finally admits’ and ‘Downing Street lying in their coverage, whilst also looking to a potential new challenge to the PM and how the latest scandal has rocked the government. 

Whilst right-leaning papers have kept the story on their front pages, or have only given it limited front-page space. The right-wing papers are claiming ‘rebels’ are using the Chris Pincher scandal ‘against’ the PM in an attempt to force him out. 

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The allegations against Chris Pincher 

In fresh allegations this weekend, the Sunday Times reported Mr Pincher had placed his hand on the inner leg of a male Tory MP in a bar in Parliament in 2017.

The newspaper reported Mr Pincher also made unwanted advances toward a different male Tory MP in 2018 while in his parliamentary office, and towards a Tory activist in Tamworth around July 2019.

The Mail on Sunday carried allegations he had made advances against an individual a decade ago, and that a female Tory staffer had tried to prevent his advances towards a young man at a Conservative Party conference.

The Independent carried allegations from an unnamed male Conservative MP that Mr Pincher groped him on two separate occasions in December 2021 and June this year.

The Sunday Times reported that the MP involved in the alleged incident in 2018 contacted No 10 before Mr Pincher was made a whip in February, passing on details of what he said had happened to him and voicing his concerns about him being appointed to the role.

No 10 has not denied a claim by Mr Johnson’s former chief aide, Dominic Cummings, that the PM referred to the former deputy chief whip as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature” before appointing him.

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