In case you missed it earlier, one of Boris Johnson’s close allies, Chris Pincher, has been suspended as a Conservative MP and will be investigated by parliament’s complaints watchdog after allegations he drunkenly groped two men.
Pincher, who resigned as deputy chief whip on Thursday, was reported to the independent complaints and grievance scheme, which looks into allegations of misconduct by MPs.
The referral prompted the chief whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, to suspend the whip from his own former deputy after almost 24 hours of pressure on Johnson to act against Pincher.
With the MP suspended, the spotlight has turned on what the prime minister knew about allegations against Pincher, who had previously resigned from the whips’ office in 2017 following claims he made unwanted passes at a Tory colleague and acted like a “poundshop Harvey Weinstein”. He was cleared of wrongdoing in a party investigation.
On Friday, the prime minister’s official spokesperson denied he had known about “specific” claims before appointing him as deputy chief whip in February.
Boris Johnson is understood to have spoken to several people today, including a Tory MP who was with one of the men who was allegedly groped by Pincher, according to PA Media.
“The account given was sufficiently disturbing to make the PM feel more troubled by all this,” the No 10 source told the PA news agency.
The prime minister was said to have been waiting for a formal investigation to begin before suspending the whip, as opposition parties said Pincher’s position as an MP was untenable.
Downing Street appeared to acknowledge that there had been concerns when he was appointed to the key post of deputy chief whip, with responsibility for discipline over Tory MPs, in February.
However a No 10 spokesperson said the prime minister had not been made aware of anything that would have prevented the appointment going ahead.
“In the absence of any formal complaints, it was not appropriate to stop an appointment on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations,” the spokesperson said.
Updated
Summary
Here the latest key developments at a glance:
- Chris Pincher, the MP for Tamworth and former Tory deputy chief whip who resigned over groping allegations, has been suspended by the Conservative party amid an ongoing investigation into his alleged misconduct.
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Downing Street initially appeared to consider the matter closed after Pincher’s resignation.
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No 10 has denied that Boris Johnson knew about any “specific” sexual misconduct claims against Pincher before promoting in February, while reports emerged that the PM’s chief of staff Steve Barclay had been made aware of concerns about Pincher’s behaviour.
- Tory MPs Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley have written a letter to Tory chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris, bemoaning an “inconsistent and unclear approach by the Party to instances of sexual misconduct”.
- Neil Parish, the former Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton – who resigned in May after admitting he had watched pornography twice on his phone in parliament – had accused the Conservatives of “double standards” prior to Pincher’s suspension and called for “equal treatment” for his former colleague.
- Keir Starmer will vow Labour will never deal with the Scottish National party while he is leader and make it explicit his party would go into minority government rather than enter talks with nationalists.
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Boris Johnson has rejected the idea that the war in Ukraine is about ‘Russia versus Nato’, and said this was merely how Putin wanted to “reframe [...] his attack on an entirely innocent country”.
- More than 3,000 migrants and refugees crossed the Channel to the UK in June – the highest monthly total this year.
That’s all from me for today, I’m now handing over to my colleague Tom Ambrose.
Updated
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Boris Johnson was forced into suspending Chris Pincher as a Conservative MP.
She said:
Boris Johnson has been dragged kicking and screaming into taking any action at all.
He just can’t be trusted to do the right thing. This whole scandal is yet more evidence of his appalling judgement.
It’s time for Conservative MPs to show this chaotic prime minister the door before he can do any more damage.
The PM spoke to a Tory MP who was with one of the men who was allegedly groped by Pincher, a Downing Street source said.
“The account given was sufficiently disturbing to make the PM feel more troubled by all this,” the source told the PA news agency.
Johnson was said to have been waiting for a formal investigation to begin before suspending the whip.
Updated
My colleague Mark Brown has profiled Chris Pincher, who before this week had only been in the national news once: for reportedly having untucked the shirt of the Olympic rower and Tory activist Alex Story, having rubbed his neck, and having told him: “You’ll go far in the Conservative party.”
Updated
This from David Williamson from the Sunday Express:
Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and Strood, is the new Deputy Chief Whip.
— David Williamson (@dp_williamson) July 1, 2022
Chris Pincher suspended by Conservative party over groping claims
Chris Pincher, the former Tory deputy chief whip who resigned over groping allegations, has been suspended by the Conservative party.
Pincher lost the Conservative whip after calls grew from Tory MPs to exclude him from the party.
A spokesperson for the chief whip said:
Having heard that a formal complaint has been made to the ICGS, the PM has agreed with the chief whip that the whip should be suspended from Chris Pincher while the investigation is ongoing.
My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has a short story on this, with more soon.
Updated
This from the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope on chancellor Rishi Sunak’s latest newsletter:
Rishi Sunak sounds defensive in his weekly newsletter about the cost of living crisis.
— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) July 1, 2022
"I don’t have a magic wand. I can’t make the global challenges of inflation and the impact of a war in Ukraine disappear. I’ve also had to grapple with a once-in-a-century pandemic that ...
"... really damaged our economy, and meant our borrowing and debt went up to levels that we hadn’t seen since the Second World War... I have a responsibility to make sure that we don’t burden our children with a legacy of debt that I didn’t deal with."
— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) July 1, 2022
My colleague Libby Brooks, our Scotland correspondent, has written a report on how grassroots groups are preparing for action after a date for a second independence referendum was announced, while the Scottish public remains divided.
Updated
My colleague Jim Waterson has written a piece on goings-on in the Carlton Club, where the Tory MP Christopher Pincher is alleged to have groped two men.
Updated
Here’s a clip from ITV news featuring an interview with Neil Parish, who is calling for “equal treatment” for himself and the former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher:
Neil Parish, who had the Tory whip removed for watching porn in Parliament, tells us he's angry Chris Pincher hasn't had the whip removed over sexual assault allegations.
— Daniel Hewitt (@DanielHewittITV) July 1, 2022
"I was doing myself damage, I was not trying to damage others - you can't say the same for dear Christopher" pic.twitter.com/oK7cT4jhgy
Updated
Former MP who was stripped off whip for watching porn in Commons warns of 'double standards'
Neil Parish, the former Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, has said the Conservatives cannot show “double standards” and must remove the whip from the former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
Parish, who formally resigned in May after admitting he had watched pornography twice on his phone in parliament, suggested that he believed the party whip could be withdrawn from Pincher before the end of Saturday.
Parish was adamant the whip should be withdrawn from his former parliamentary colleague, saying:
The first thing they did to me, and I made a huge mistake, is that they withdrew the whip. There cannot be double standards.
My belief is that Christopher Pincher has things to be answered for, the whip must be withdrawn and he has the opportunity then to go before the parliamentary standards board to see what his conduct actually was – those that were affected can also give evidence.
The former MP expressed disbelief that the party whip had not already been withdrawn.
I can’t believe why they haven’t done it, because that was the first thing they did to me, even though I asked for it to be sorted out privately.
I just feel it is double standards. But I suspect by this evening or tomorrow the whip will be withdrawn. I can’t believe they can treat us in such different ways.
Asked by LBC if he saw himself as badly treated by the Conservatives, he said:
I have accepted what happened and I made a big mistake and so up until now, yes I have.
But I have to say to you on this occasion, then I am very upset.
He suggested that he cut an independent path in parliament, meaning that he had little protection from the party when the scandal broke.
The resulting byelection saw the Liberal Democrats take Parish’s former seat, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 24,000.
Parish said:
I got myself elected to the [Commons environment, food and rural affairs] select committee chair.
I never had preferment. I was always keen to hold ministers to account, which is what you do as a select committee chair.
And so you weren’t part of the establishment. So when you come to blot your copy book, which I did, I accept that, there was no protection for me and straight over the side of the boat.
You just think, come on, he may be deputy chief whip, in fact he may have been the man who actually removed the whip from me, so come on, let’s be fair.
Updated
Post Office collection and cash delivery workers are to stage a one-day strike later this month in a dispute over pay.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) employed in supply chain and admin jobs will walk out on 14 July, PA reports.
The workers deliver cash, valuables and essential supplies to thousands of sub-post offices, process finances and work in administration.
The dispute is in opposition to a pay offer from the Post Office which the union said was worth 3% for 2022-23, alongside a one-off lump sum payment of 500, and no pay increase for the 2021-22 financial year.
The union said the proposals are far beneath the RPI inflation rate of 11.7%.
CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey said:
The blame for this disruption lies entirely with the senior Post Office leadership, who have repeatedly failed - and wilfully refused - to set out a sensible and fair pay agreement.
Everyone knows that the only solution is a fair pay rise that properly rewards members for their extraordinary efforts in serving the public and delivering a profitable Post Office, while also taking account of the extreme cost of living.
There most certainly is money available, but management do not want to give workers their fair share.
Our message to the employer today is: don’t waste our members’ time by misleading statements.
Stop the spin and get serious about pay. Until you do this, the strikes will continue.
A Post Office spokesperson said:
We have received notice that the CWU has called a strike involving supply chain colleagues.
We will have a range of contingency measures in place to minimise any possible disruption to the Post Office network on that day.
Updated
More than 3,000 migrants and refugees crossed the Channel to the UK in June – the highest monthly total this year.
Last month 3,136 people made the crossing on 76 boats, with journeys taking place on 19 days, according to PA news agency analysis of government figures.
Of the 12,690 people who made the journey in the first half of this year, the second highest month for crossings was 3,074 in March.
The highest monthly record since 2018 was 6,971 crossings in November 2021.
The total for 2022 so far is more than five times the amount recorded between January and June 2020 (2,493) and more than double the six-month tally for the first half of last year (5,917).
Crossings continued on Thursday with 94 people arriving in Dover, Kent, in two boats.
The figures indicate 51,824 people have made the crossing since 2018.
Home Office figures show 28,526 crossed in 2021, compared with 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019 and 299 in 2018.
The number of Channel crossings may be increasing, but represent a fraction of the number of people migrating to Europe.
Data from the UN Refugee Agency shows at least 120,441 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea in 2021.
Earlier this week, the home secretary, Priti Patel, struck a fresh deal with Nigeria, which her department said would do more to tackle “illegal migration” and speed up the “removal of foreign criminals”.
At the same time, the Home Office said 13 people who had “no right to be in the UK” were deported to Nigeria, with a further eight flown to Ghana.
Updated
Shadow leader of the House of Commons Thangam Debbonaire said the allegations of sexual misconduct against former Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher must be investigated.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme:
He hasn’t had the whip removed and there’s no sign at the moment of these allegations being investigated by the Tory party.
So yes, he’s resigned as deputy chief whip and what next? What does that say to victims if there’s no further action?
That Pincher has not had the whip removed, she added, “is part of a wider culture, which comes from the top I’m afraid, of tolerance of poor behaviour”.
The responsibility is now on the prime minister, the Tory prime minister and those propping him up to demand, expect and enforce the highest standards of behaviour.
Updated
This from Politico’s Eleni Courea:
Besides everything else, it's entirely implausible that Steve Barclay would hold up the cabinet reshuffle for hours to allow PET to look into allegations against Chris Pincher (as No10 source claimed to me) without Boris Johnson ever being told about those allegations...
— Eleni Courea (@elenicourea) July 1, 2022
No 10 has denied that Boris Johnson knew about any specific sexual misconduct claims against Chris Pincher before making him deputy chief whip, as the prime minister faces growing pressure to withdraw the whip from his ally for allegedly drunkenly groping two men.
Johnson’s deputy official spokesperson said the prime minister was not aware of any allegations against Pincher prior to promoting him in February, despite multiple sources saying No 10 was told of allegations of sexual misconduct before this point.
No 10 admitted that the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team examined Pincher’s suitability but said it could not block any appointment based on “unsubstantiated rumour”.
Here is our full report, by Jane Clinton and Rowena Mason:
Boris Johnson’s premiership has been characterised by a string of scandals since he entered No 10 in December 2019.
From “Pestminster” to “Wallpapergate”, the prime minister has sought to ride out every storm during his two and a half years in charge.
My colleague Josh Halliday has a timeline of the sleaze so far:
This from insider’s Cat Neilan:
Cabinet Office is refusing to say whether Chris Pincher's appointment as deputy chief whip was referred to the Propriety and Ethics Team.
— Cat Neilan (@CatNeilan) July 1, 2022
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said:
"All appointments follow established processes."
This from Mail on Sunday commentator Dan Hodges:
Speaking to Tory MPs, I think the handling of the Chris Pincher case is worse for Boris than Partygate. Much worse.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) July 1, 2022
Commenting on new data showing rising Covid infections and hospital admissions across the UK, Dr Mary Ramsay, the director of clinical programmes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said:
We continue to see an increase in Covid-19 data, with a rise in case rates and hospitalisations in those aged 65 years and over, and outbreaks in care homes.
We can also now see a rise in ICU admissions in older age groups.
Vaccination remains the best defence against severe disease and hospitalisation. Covid-19 has not gone away and we should all remember to keep up good hand and respiratory hygiene. It is also sensible to wear a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces.
Around one in six people aged 75 and over had not received a vaccine dose within the past six months, putting them more at risk of severe disease, the UKHSA added.
All over-75s in the UK have been offered a “spring booster”, available at least three months after their most recent jab, to ensure they continue to receive the maximum possible protection from the virus.
Figures show that 8,928 patients in England had Covid-19 on 30 June, up 39% on the previous week, and just over half the level of patients recorded at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave, PA reports.
In Wales, 548 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital on 29 June, up 52% from the previous week, while Scotland has seen patient numbers jump 34% week-on-week, reaching 1,298 on 26 June.
The trend in Northern Ireland is uncertain, with numbers rising in early June before levelling off in recent days between 320 and 340.
Around six in 10 hospital patients who test positive for Covid-19 are being treated primarily for something else, rather than the virus.
Updated
The Northern Ireland Office minister Conor Burns declined to be drawn on whether it was sustainable for Chris Pincher, who reportedly groped two male guests at the Conservative party’s private members’ Carlton Club in London, to retain the Tory whip.
Burns, who was in Belfast on Friday to mark the Battle of the Somme anniversary, said:
With respect to that, I’m here today to mark a remarkable chapter in the history of these islands, to remember those who gave their lives fighting for freedom and for democratic values, and that’s really not something I want to contaminate by talking about those matters.
When pressed, he said:
All of those matters are matters for the prime minister and the government whips’ office, they’re not matters for me.
Updated
Asked whether Boris Johnson operates a zero-tolerance approach to allegations of sexual misconduct among members of the team, a No 10 spokesperson said:
Of course, the prime minister thinks that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable and he would encourage those who wish to make a complaint to do so.
The official said he “wouldn’t agree with” the characterisation that Johnson does not take sexual assault claims seriously, adding:
The prime minister does think he’s [Pincher] done the right thing in resigning and has accepted that resignation.
The spokesperson said Johnson and Pincher “exchanged messages”, though he refused to give details of the “private” exchange and said he was not expecting the PM to write a letter.
Updated
Boris Johnson considers Chris Pincher matter closed after resignation, Downing Street suggests
Downing Street has suggested that Boris Johnson considers the matter of the former deputy chief whip closed following his resignation over a drunken incident.
Asked whether the PM believes the issue is done and dusted, a No 10 spokesperson said:
He’s [Chris Pincher] resigned that position so I’m not aware of any sort of government investigation.
The official repeatedly stressed that Pincher is “no longer a minister”.
He added:
[The prime minister] has accepted his resignation, but again I think I’ve been clear that he would encourage anybody who feels as though they need to make a complaint to do so.
I’ve said that he believes that the behaviour was unacceptable, which is why he’s accepted the resignation.
Pressed on whether Pincher is under any form of probe, the official said:
He’s withdrawn his position as a minister, so I would have to point you to my political colleagues in terms of any sort of party investigations.
Updated
Boris Johnson has said he is not opposed to grammar schools “in principle” following reports that the government could relax a ban on the creation of new selective schools.
In an interview with LBC, Johnson was asked about the support for setting up new grammar schools among MPs in the “Red Wall”.
He said:
Look, I’ve always been in favour of academic competition and many schools now have policies of selective admission in sixth forms... I’m not against that in principle. All I would say is that what I want is good schools everywhere.
I think that competition is a damn fine thing and very important and leads to excellence, and provided... you encourage competition in a way that doesn’t make everybody who fails feel totally miserable, you’ll get some pretty good results.
Johnson said he had “never been against academic selection”, adding, “you need to look at how you do it”.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has also said he wants to “spread the DNA” of grammar schools through the system with grammar schools joining a “family of multi-academy trusts” while retaining their selective status.
PA reports:
The Labour Party introduced a ban on the creation of new grammar schools more than 20 years ago.
The idea of opening new grammar schools enjoys support within the Conservative party, with former teacher and Tory MP Jonathan Gullis, who sits on the Commons education select committee, running a campaign to scrap the ban.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, also wants to see the rule overturned, and is set to table an amendment to the Schools Bill in a move to bring about the change.
In England, there are 163 grammar schools, most of which are academies although 20 are maintained schools.
Pupils typically sit the 11-Plus exam to be selected for a place on the basis of academic ability.
This from Sky News’s Tamara Cohen:
PM spokesman says Boris Johnson not aware of “any specific allegations” against Chris Pincher when he was appointed deputy chief whip in Feb.
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) July 1, 2022
“In the absence of any formal complaint, it was not appropriate to stop an appointment on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations”
This just in from the Sun’s Jonathan Reilly, which seems to be at odds with a Politico report earlier about concerns regarding Chris Pincher’s behaviour that were raised with Steve Barclay, Johnson’s chief of staff, before Pincher was appointed deputy chief whip:
NEW: Boris Johnson "was not aware of any specific allegations" against Chris Pincher before he was appointed Dep Chief-Whip in February, according to No10.
— Jonathan Reilly (@thejonnyreilly) July 1, 2022
That's depite Pincher resigning over similar claims in 2017 where he was described as a "pound shop Harvey Weinstein."
But confusingly Downing Street also say they were aware of "unsubstansiated allegations" when he was hired.
— Jonathan Reilly (@thejonnyreilly) July 1, 2022
Updated
The latest data from Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Infection Survey shows Covid infection rates have continued to increase across all four UK countries, likely driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
In the week ending on 24 June one in 30 people in England and Wales are estimated to have had the virus, one in 25 in Northern Ireland and one in 18 in Scotland.
Covid hospital admission rates and infections in England increased across all age groups. Admissions increased in all regions except the South West, where the trend was uncertain.
A total of 2.3 million people in private UK households are estimated to have had the virus last week, up 32% from 1.7 million the previous week.
This is the highest estimate for total infections since late April, but is still below the record high of 4.9 million which was reached at the end of March.
Updated
Tory MPs Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley have written a letter to Tory chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris on the Chris Pincher groping claims, bemoaning an “inconsistent and unclear approach by the Party to instances of sexual misconduct”:
Letter from Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley to chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris
— Eleni Courea (@elenicourea) July 1, 2022
They ask for a "a policy of zero tolerance" on sexual misconduct allegations, a "thorough investigation... in each and every case" and that Tories under investigation are suspended from the whip pic.twitter.com/ZSpAIOtn1I
Updated
Teachers’ leaders have said government plans to give most teachers a pay rise of 5% do not “come close” to what is needed.
On Friday, The Telegraph reported that education secretary Nadhim Zahawi is planning to give early career teachers a rise of 9% in the first five years’ of their career, as part of plans to raise starting salaries to 30,000.
Zahawi is also planning a pay rise of 5% for the remaining 380,000 teachers across the UK to avoid the risk of strike action, rather than 3% as originally planned.
He has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak to propose the increase.
The Department for Education’s submission to the School Teachers’ Review Body had suggested that more experienced teachers receive pay rises of between 2 and 3%, which unions have said is too low given rising inflation rates.
Both the NASUWT and NEU teaching unions, which have threatened strikes in autumn over pay, have said that the proposed increase of 5% for more experienced staff is too low.
The NEU has previously written to Zahawi calling for “inflation-plus” pay rises.
NASUWT has said it will hold a national strike ballot if the government fails to “deliver pay restoration for teachers”, PA reports.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said that she would await the government’s formal response to the STRB at the end of the month but that 9% for starting teachers was “only 1% more than expected” while 5% for more experienced staff was “unacceptable”.
The Schools Week website has reported that there are not enough supply agency teachers to cover gaps if teachers go on strike.
And this from the BBC News’s Ione Wells:
Several ministers have told the BBC he should not keep the whip, some expecting more to emerge.
— Ione Wells (@ionewells) July 1, 2022
Other MPs feel what he did was “worse than Neil Parish” who resigned, and that he “abused his power” as deputy chief whip.
One Tory MP tells the BBC: “If he’s not ousted from the party, Boris condones it and that’s not on.”
— Ione Wells (@ionewells) July 1, 2022
Meanwhile a Tory source claims to me that Boris Johnson is personally pushing back at suggestions he should lose the whip.
This from the i-Paper’s Arj Singh on Chris Pincher’s resignation as deputy chief whip:
A veteran Tory added: “He must lose the whip, otherwise the only conclusion is he is being protected because he’s one of Johnson’s supporters. There is so much more to come out about him. He should be banned from Parliament.”
— Arj Singh (@singharj) July 1, 2022
Another said: "His nickname is ‘arse’ for a reason. He’s known as ‘arse Pincher’ because he has form on this."
— Arj Singh (@singharj) July 1, 2022
Keir Starmer will vow Labour will never deal with the Scottish National party while he is leader and make it explicit his party would go into minority government rather than enter talks with nationalists.
In a new effort to spike Tory attacks on a “coalition of chaos”, the Labour leader is expected to ramp up his pledge that the party would give no quarter to the SNP and would not grant an independence referendum, which will form part of his summer campaign.
That position would effectively dare the SNP to vote down a Labour Queen’s speech and bear responsibility for bringing down a Labour prime minister and enabling another Tory administration.
Here my colleague Jessica Elgot’s full story:
This from HuffPost UK’s Sophia Sleigh:
Boris Johnson shakes the hand of Jacinda Ardern in front of No.10 as reporter shouts at him: "Are you drowning in sleaze?!"
— Sophia Sleigh (@SophiaSleigh) July 1, 2022
Another interesting nugget of polling from Ipsos UK’s Gideon Skinner:
Perceptions of the Conservatives as out of date are also growing, up from 39% in Sept to 49% now (Labour on 39%). Though the Conservatives are slightly more likely to be seen as different to the other parties. (8/10) pic.twitter.com/syfKLcvLfw
— Gideon Skinner (@GideonSkinner) July 1, 2022
Allowing Chris Pincher to keep the Tory whip shows Boris Johnson “doesn’t take allegations of sexual assault as seriously as the leader of a government should”, a Conservative MP has said.
The MP, who declined to be named, told PA:
Let’s not forget that Mr Pincher is the man who helped keep Boris Johnson in Downing Street earlier this year and was rewarded with one of the most sensitive jobs in government.
Number 10’s initial response - suggesting he’s done ‘the decent thing’ and allowing him to retain the whip - tells us that Boris Johnson doesn’t take allegations of sexual assault as seriously as the leader of a government should and is the latest demonstration of why he is unfit to be prime minister.
The standards of behaviour expected in an organisation are set by the person who leads it.
This is an interesting thread from Keiran Pedley, pollster for Ipsos UK, on the Conservatives’ and Labour’s party image:
NEW from @IpsosUK: Labour lead at 11.
— Keiran Pedley (@keiranpedley) July 1, 2022
Lab 41% (+2 from May)
Con 30% (-3)
Lib Dems 15% (+3)
Green 6% (+1)
Other 8% (-3)
But the real story is on party image. THREAD
1/ Cons at all time low on being seen as 'fit to govern'. Labour lead by default. UK politics in a nutshell? pic.twitter.com/8TzlKuJTuy
2/ Meanwhile, more from @IpsosUK. They say divided parties lose elections...well, right now 2/3rds consider Cons divided.
— Keiran Pedley (@keiranpedley) July 1, 2022
Labour at 47%. Lowest level since 2015. pic.twitter.com/AfBn1CgQEt
3/ More on party image from @IpsosUK - here you can see the head to head.
— Keiran Pedley (@keiranpedley) July 1, 2022
Note that sometimes Con leads coloured red to reflect that a 'lead' on a negative statement is obviously bad. Thus Labour 'leads' on 10/11 image statements. pic.twitter.com/cdXG0VG46Q
4/ And yet, let's look at the Labour trend going back to 2015. Not much evidence of upward momentum.
— Keiran Pedley (@keiranpedley) July 1, 2022
Does add weight to the argument that Starmer / Labour's current leads are more Tory woes than Labour improvement. Begs the question what happens if Cons change leader.... pic.twitter.com/CkFz9JxPV8
Updated
This from Insider’s Cat Neilan on one Tory MP’s hot take on the Pincher story:
One Tory MP blames.... Keir Starmer
— Cat Neilan (@CatNeilan) July 1, 2022
"If there was a strong opposition, Pincher wouldn't have ever been deputy chief whip," he says.
This from ITV News’s Anushka Asthana:
A lot of pressure to remove whip from Chris Pincher from Tory MPs- who’ve contacted the chief whip Chris Heaton Harris. One comparing to decision yo remove whip from Neil Parish over watching porn in House of Commons.
— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) July 1, 2022
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain has said it is “difficult to see” how Chris Pincher can remain as an MP for Tamworth.
Chamberlain told PA:
Given the seriousness of these allegations, it’s difficult to see how Chris Pincher can continue as an MP.
This sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable in parliament or anywhere else.
There now needs to be a full investigation and in the meantime Chris Pincher should have the Conservative whip withdrawn.
She also said that Boris Johnson has “serious questions to answer” over his appointment.
There are a lot of questions about why Boris Johnson appointed Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip, despite No 10 having been aware of concerns about his behaviour since the beginning of the year.
Politico reports that a group of Conservative MPs intervened in February in order to block Pincher getting appointed as chief whip, according to two MPs and one government official.
“He [Pincher] was absolutely livid when he didn’t get made chief,” said one aide. “As soon as his name was in the running, people went into No 10, including MPs, with new allegations about what he’d done.”
A No 10 official said Pincher got the job of deputy chief whip after concerns about him had been raised with Steve Barclay, the PM’s chief of staff.
The Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team concluded the allegations should not bar Pincher from getting the role.
Updated
And this from the Sunday Times’s Hannah Al-Othman:
Tory MP says lots of internal lobbying been going on since last night to suspend the whip from Pincher.
— Hannah Al-Othman (@HannahAlOthman) July 1, 2022
Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a U-turn on that before the day is out.
This from the Scotsman’s Alexander Brown on remarks reportedly made by Guto Harri, director of communications at 10 Downing Street:
I'm told at this morning's Downing Street meeting Guto Harri told staff Chris Pincher was vulnerable and had lost his career, so they should all "think about how he feels" today
— Alexander Brown (@AlexofBrown) July 1, 2022
Updated
This from Adam Payne, the political editor of PoliticsHome, on Conservative MP Chris Pincher’s resignation over groping allegations:
A furious Conservative party source points out that the deputy chief whip usually handles MP welfare
— Adam Payne (@adampayne26) July 1, 2022
"It's particularly grim...
"Why on earth Boris gave him [Pincher] that role, which in turn gave him access to potentially vulnerable MPs, beggars belief. It's neglect."
I’m Jedidajah Otte and I’ll be taking over for the next few hours. As ever, feel free to get in touch with tips, pointers and comments, I’m on Twitter @JedySays or you can email me.
Cabinet minister refuses to say whether Chris Pincher could lose Tory whip by end of day
The big story this morning is about Conservative MP Chris Pincher, who resigned from his role as deputy chief whip last night after admitting he had “embarrassed myself and other people” following reports that he drunkenly groped two men at the Carlton Club in Piccadilly, London, on Wednesday.
Interviewed on Sky News this morning, Welsh Secretary Simon Hart was unable to confirm whether the alleged assault was being formally investigated, as Labour demanded Pincher have the whip suspended.
Hart said it was “early days yet” and that from the perspective of the alleged victims, it could be “counter-productive” to rush any probe.
He said Conservative chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris would be having “conversations” throughout the day and that “we might be having a very different conversation as the day goes on”.
The Cabinet minister told Sky News:
This makes me very sad, it makes me sad for everybody who’s been involved in these things. It’s clearly something which has gone terribly wrong. There is a process, I think it’s important that the process is followed.
I think it is entirely right that the chief whip and others take a view today about what is the appropriate course of action. Of course, if there are those who are victims of this or who wish to raise complaint, they can do so.
Asked whether he believed Pincher should lose the whip, Hart said he knew “what he would like to see happen” but that the decision was not down to him.
Let’s let today play out, let the chief whip do his duty today, and then I think we might be having a very different conversation as the day goes on.
This is not the first time, I fear it possibly won’t be the last. This happens in workplaces from time to time.
Labour said the incident showed the Tory Party was “mired in sleaze and scandal” and questioned how Pincher could still be allowed to take the Conservative whip given what had happened.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper said that removing the whip from the former Conservative deputy whip needed to be the “first step that takes place” but did not call for his resignation as an MP.
Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
We need to know the full truth about what has happened and what the allegations are.
But I think that’s [removing the whip] the first step that needs to take place. And I think the idea that the Conservatives can try and simply dismiss this is just unacceptable.
They have to show they take this kind of thing more seriously. Time and again Boris Johnson just doesn’t. That is not good enough. This is about standards in public life.
Guardian reporter Jane Clinton has the full story here:
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Boris Johnson rejects idea that Ukraine conflict is about 'Russia versus Nato'
Good morning. The day kicked off with an appearance from prime minister Boris Johnson on LBC, in which he told host Nick Ferrari that despite some 35 recorded threats of nuclear war from Putin, it’s important not to “allow ourselves to be sidetracked by this kind of sabre-rattling”.
He said:
Fundamentally, what Putin is trying to do is to reframe this. It’s about Russia versus Nato. It’s about, you know, a standoff of that kind. It’s not. It’s about his attack on an entirely innocent country, with conventional weapons, with artillery, bombardments with planes, shells and so on.
He added that he thought the Ukrainians could “recapture ground”, as evidenced in the Snake Island win, but that “the time has come now to bring the technical military operation to an end, and to withdraw and to seek a new arrangement”. He said he didn’t think that the war would necessarily end with Putin out of the Kremlin, since he enjoys “very considerable levels of public support”.
Responding to questions on why the army is reducing troop levels, he said the priority is on improving equipment levels for the armed forces rather than increasing recruits.
Asked about Met police failings, he said that City Hall “has got to grip this thing”, and that it was the responsibility of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as he is commissioner of the police in London. With one in seven police forces in special measures, he said he would ensure they are “properly held to account through the police and crime commissioners”.
On the question of whether Covid restrictions could return as the UK grapples with its fifth wave of the virus, Johnson said:
I think that we see no reason for that.
Johnson also shared his views on grammar schools:
I’ve always been in favour of academic competition ... All I would say is that what I want is good schools everywhere.
Also coming up today: Boris Johnson hosts New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern in Downing Street at 11.15am
You can reach me at rachel.hall@theguardian.com if there are any political stories you think we’ve missed.
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