UK Politics

Boris Johnson admitted “it was a mistake” to give scandal-hit former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher a role in government and said: “I apologise for it.”His remarks come amid mounting Tory anger after No 10 confirmed the prime minister was briefed on complaints relating to Mr Pincher in 2019 while he was serving as a minister at the Foreign Office.The cabinet office minister Michael Ellis told MPs that Mr Johnson did not “immediately recall” the exchange when fresh allegations emerged about Mr Pincher’s conduct last week at the Carlton Club.But just moments after Mr Johnson’s first public remarks on the issue, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, resigned from the government, saying the prime minister had lost his confidence.In letter to the prime minister, Mr Javid said that following last month’s vote of confidence “it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership” in an explosive intervention.Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday evening, the prime minister, however, denied lying to aides about his knowledge of allegations against Mr Pincher, who resigned as deputy chief whip last week.No 10 spokespeople and ministers have given a series of differing explanations about what Mr Johnson’s knowledge of the situation had been.Asked if he lied to them, Mr Johnson said: “No and let me explain what happened. We are talking about a series of appointments over seven years.“Chris Pincher came into government as deputy chief whip before I became Prime Minister, he was move to the Foreign Office, he then went on to be a minister for housing and we then moved him back to be deputy chief whip.“About two and a half years ago I got this complaint, it was something that was only raised with me very cursorily but I wish that we had, I in particular, had acted on it and that he had not continued in government because he then went on, I’m afraid, to behave, as far as we can see, according to the allegations that we have, very, very badly.“I’m sorry for those who have been badly affected by it.” More

Sajid Javid has resigned as health secretary, telling the scandal-hit Boris Johnson the Conservative party is “bigger than any one individual”.As Tory MPs pleaded with the cabinet to bring down the prime minister, Mr Javid walked out, saying: “I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience.”The resignation came moments after Mr Johnson ended his silence on the Chris Pincher scandal, apologising for promoting him despite having evidence of his sexual misconduct.“The tone you set as a leader, and the values you represent, reflect on your colleagues, your party and ultimately the country,” Mr Javid wrote.Moments later, the chancellor Rishi Sunak also quit – appearing to bring the end of the Johnson premiership within sight“The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” Mr Sunak said, adding: “These standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”The dual resignations came after the cabinet was captured with pale, gloomy faces at its weekly meeting – prompting speculation that a revolt was near.Senior Tories had urged Mr Johnson’s top team to pull the plug on his premiership – after No 10 admitted he knew a misconduct complaint was upheld against the man he made deputy chief whip.“Backbenchers have done all they can. It is up to the cabinet to decide if they will put up, or if they will continue to shut up,” the former health minister Steve Brine told The Independent.William Wragg, chair of the Commons public administration committee, urged ministers to follow their “common sense of decency”, while John Penrose, who quit as Mr Johnson’s anti-corruption tsar, suggested they would reach a point of not being able to “defend this anymore”.And Nick Gibb, the respected former schools minister, likened the situation to the crisis in the US where “you worry whether democracy is safe”, as he also urged the cabinet to act.“We have to make sure that doesn’t happen in this country. We have to get rid of the rot in our political system,” he told BBC Radio 4.The coordinated resignations followed a devastating intervention by a former head of the Foreign Office – who revealed Mr Johnson was briefed about the complaint against Mr Pincher, in 2019.Simon McDonald said he was speaking out because the account given by Downing Street – which first claimed the prime minister was unaware of any allegations – was “not true”.In a letter to the parliamentary standards commissioner, the retired mandarin said the 2019 allegations “were similar to those made about his behaviour at the Carlton Club” – where Mr Pincher has been accused of groping two men.“Mr Pincher deceived me and others in 2019. He cannot be allowed to use the confidentiality of the process three years ago to pursue his predatory behaviour in other contexts,”But the prime minister’s spokesman had continued to insist the information about Mr Pincher’s behaviour was no reason to bar him from the job as deputy chief whip, with responsibility for Tory MP’s welfare.The respected Institute for Government hit out at dishonesty in No 10, calling on Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to step in and saying: “The prime minister’s official spokesman cannot double as a liar.” More

Chris Pincher allegations do ‘huge damage’ to trust in parliament, says Tory ministerBoris Johnson’s “defence has been completely blown apart”, Labour’s Angela Rayner has said, as Downing Street admitted the prime minister was aware that a misconduct complaint against Chris Pincher had been upheld when he promoted him to the whips’ office.But Mr Johnson’s spokesperson denied that No 10 “lied” when it claimed last week that the PM was unaware of “specific allegations” against Mr Pincher, insisting that he did not originally “recall” hearing of the complaint, which he said was “a brief conversation that took place around three years ago”.The admission comes after the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office Lord McDonald accused No 10 of “not telling the truth” about allegations received about Chris Pincher’s conduct.He said in a letter to the parliamentary standards commissioner that Mr Johnson was briefed “in person” about an investigation into Chris Pincher’s conduct as a Foreign Office minister.Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of showing “bad judgement” in appointing Mr Pincher to the whips’ office, while justice secretary Dominic Raab says he found Mr Pincher “on the whole very professional.”Show latest update

1657032202Tory MPs lined up in the House of Commons to publicly condemn Boris Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher affair, with senior figures urging ministers to consider their positions.On Tuesday, Labour was granted an urgent question in Parliament to address the growing scandal over the past behaviour of Mr Pincher and what the prime minister knew about the allegations.As Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis kept defending the appointment of the MP for Tamworth as deputy chief whip, it soon became clear that disquiet among Tory MPs is growing, with several venting their anger and frustration in the lower chamber.Conservative former minister John Penrose asked Mr Ellis when he would finally say “enough is enough” and no longer defend the government, whilst the Conservative chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, William Wragg, urged ministers to consider their position.Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 15:431657030319Chris Pincher: Who is the former deputy chief whip at the centre of Westminster’s latest sleaze scandal?-Boris Johnson’s government once again finds itself mired in scandal in the wake of the resignation of deputy chief whip Chris Pincher last week after he allegedly groped two colleagues at a social event while drunk.The 52-year-old MP, who has represented Tamworth in Staffordshire since 2010, was the subject of two complaints over his conduct at a 30th anniversary reception for the Conservative Friends of Cyprus at the Carlton Club, a historic private members club. Read the full story below: Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 15:111657028716Watch: Boris Johnson was briefed in person about Chris Pincher allegations, Lord McDonald saysBoris Johnson was briefed in person about Chris Pincher allegations, Lord McDonald saysThomas Kingsley5 July 2022 14:451657027961Labour’s Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley) challenged Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis to say whether the MP for Tamworth (Chris Pincher) “would have been able to get” a job if she had been deciding about appointments.She said: “There’s always something that is meant to be for the standards for the public, that a minister stands there and leans on to try and get out of – basically telling untruths to public, allowing sycophancy rather than morality to be the reason why people are given their jobs.“My final question to the minister is, if it had been me giving out those jobs, does he think the MP for Tamworth (Chris Pincher) would have been able to get one?”Responding, Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis said: “I would expect (her) perhaps more than she would expect of me, and by that I mean, that I would expect her to act fairly. So I hope that answers her question. If she was in that position of responsibility to make decisions about appointments I would expect her to act fairly, full stop.”Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 14:321657026902Ministers should ‘consider positions’ in government after Pincher response, Tory MP suggestsMinisters should “consider their positions” in Boris Johnson’s government amid mounting anger over No 10’s response to misconduct complaints against Christopher Pincher, a Tory MP has suggested.The remarks from William Wragg came just minutes after minister Michael Ellis admitted the prime minister was “made aware” in late 2019 of concerns relating to Mr Pincher – then a minister at the Foreign Office.Prompting laughter in the Commons, the Cabinet Office minister, however, insisted Mr Johnson did not “immediately recall” the exchange when fresh allegations emerged about Mr Pincher’s conduct last week.Read the full story below: Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 14:151657026002Boris Johnson needs to show ‘honesty and accuracy,’ former head of Civil Service saysThe former head of the Civil Service has called for “honesty and accuracy” from Boris Johnson over Chris Pincher’s appointment as deputy chief whip and said there is a pattern of Number 10 trying to “mislead and confuse stories”.Lord Kerslake told Radio 4’s World at One programme: “There must be a complete openness and transparency from No 10 and the prime minister.“We do need to understand why action was taken to appoint Chris Pincher to be a deputy chief whip, a role that is, after all, about the wellbeing of MPs as much as anything.“Why was that appointment made and, if needs be, an apology”.The cross-bench peer also said it is “inconceivable” that those around the prime minister were unaware of sexual misconduct claims.“I cannot believe that they weren’t aware of previous allegations and indeed substantiated allegations,” he said, adding that No 10’s handling of the story in recent days demonstrates a “pattern of constantly trying to mislead, confuse stories and not come clean when the issue arises”.Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 14:001657024980Zelensky holds talks with Boris Johnson amid Pincher rowUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he has held further talks with Boris Johnson about the latest situation in Ukraine.Mr Zelensky tweeted: “Thanked (Mr Johnson) for the unwavering support of – the recent decision to provide £1 billion in security aid and today’s – £100 million.“Talked about food security for the world and security guarantees for Ukraine.”Thomas Kingsley5 July 2022 13:431657023857Minister also admits Boris Johnson knew Chris Pincher complaint was upheldSpeaking in the Commons shortly after No 10 admitted that Boris Johnson knew that a complaint against Chris Pincher had been upheld, paymaster general Michael Ellis said the same.Officials raised concerns with the permanent secretary concerning Mr Pincher in October 2019 and the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office “commissioned work to establish facts”, undertaken by the Cabinet Office, he said. Mr Ellis added: “The exercise established that while the minister meant no harm, what had occurred caused a high level of discomfort … the minister apologised and those raising the concern accepted the resolution. “The prime minister was made aware of this issue in late 2019, he was told that the permanent secretary had taken the necessary action. No issue therefore arose about remaining as a minister.“And last week when fresh allegations arose the prime minister did not immediately recall the conversation in late 2019 about this incident. As soon as he was reminded, the No 10 press office corrected their public lines.”PM knew that Pincher complaint was upheld in 2019, minister revealsAndy Gregory5 July 2022 13:241657023404No 10 admits Boris Johnson knew misconduct complaint was upheld against Chris PincherOur deputy political editor Rob Merrick has this breaking update:Boris Johnson knew a misconduct complaint had been upheld against Chris Pincher when he promoted him to the whips office, No 10 has admitted.But the prime minister’s spokesman denied Downing Street “lied’ when it claimed, last week, that he was unaware of any “specific allegations” against the minister.Mr Johnson did not originally “recall” being told about the complaint, he said, adding it was “a brief conversation that took place around three years ago”.The spokesman also conceded the prime minister was told of a separate allegation – when Mr Pincher was promoted in February – but argued that was “unsubstantiated”.Andy Gregory5 July 2022 13:161657023285Government ‘paralysed by scandal’, Angela Rayner saysLabour’s Angela Rayner has described Boris Johnson’s government as being “paralysed by scandal”.In a Commons debate forced by Labour in response to the Chris Pincher allegations – amid a row over Mr Johnson’s handling of the claims – the party’s deputy leader said: “What message, Mr Speaker, does this send about the standards of this government and what they set? “What message does this send to the British people facing a cost of living crisis while this government is paralysed by scandal? When will this minister [Michael Ellis] stop defending the indefensible and say ‘enough is enough’.”Rayner: ‘Government is paralysed by scandal’ after Pincher revelationsAndy Gregory5 July 2022 13:14 More

Ministers should “consider their positions” in Boris Johnson’s government amid mounting anger over No 10’s response to misconduct complaints against Christopher Pincher, a Tory MP has suggested.The remarks from William Wragg came just minutes after minister Michael Ellis admitted the prime minister was “made aware” in late 2019 of concerns relating to Mr Pincher – then a minister at the Foreign Office.Prompting laughter in the Commons, the Cabinet Office minister, however, insisted Mr Johnson did not “immediately recall” the exchange when fresh allegations emerged about Mr Pincher’s conduct last week.It also follow an explosive letter from the former head of the Foreign Office, Sir Simon McDonald, who accused No 10 of not telling the truth over whether the prime minister was warned about the alleged behaviour of Mr Pincher.Speaking in the Commons, Mr Wragg said minister should ask themselves “if they can any longer tolerate being part of a government which, for better or worse, is widely regarded of having lost its sense of direction”.He said government frontbenchers should “consider what they are being asked to say in public which changes seemingly by the hour”.“It is for them to consider their positions, this is not a question of systems, it is a question of political judgement and that political judgement cannot be delegated,” the Tory MP added during an urgent question.John Penrose, a Conservative MP who resigned as the government’s anti-corruption tsar just last month, also asked Mr Ellis when he would finally say “enough is enough” and no longer defend Mr Johnson’s government.“One of the seven Nolan principles is honesty. Number 10 was previously accused without rebuttal of lacking leadership by Sue Gray in her report over what went on over Partygate,” he added.“How many more of the seven principles are they going to have to breach before he will stand up and say ‘enough is enough?”’Another Tory MP, Caroline Johnson, also asked the Cabinet Office minister why Mr Pincher was not sacked in 2019, if the allegations made against him were “similar” to those made about “bad behaviour” at the Carlton Club last week.She said: “What he said is that the prime minister knew the allegation in 2019. He said that discomfort was caused, and he said that the right honourable member for Tamworth apologised.“The allegations as reported from the time at the Carlton club included sexual assault. Can he confirm if the allegations made back in 2019 were of sexual assault?“And if they were, and they were upheld and apologised, why the police weren’t involved? Why wasn’t he sacked at the time, never mind given another job?” The Cabinet Office minister said he is unable “to speak to that”, adding: “We must do everything we can to protect the confidentiality of those who make complaints. I’m very concerned that the way in which this matter has been processed by some individuals means that it opens up a risk of a breach of confidentiality.” More

Boris Johnson knew a misconduct complaint had been upheld against Chris Pincher when he promoted him to the whips’ office, No 10 has admitted.But the prime minister’s spokesman denied Downing Street “lied’ when it claimed, last week, that he was unaware of any “specific allegations” against the minister. Mr Johnson did not originally “recall” being told about the complaint, he said, adding it was “a brief conversation that took place around three years ago”.The spokesman also conceded the prime minister was told of a separate allegation – when Mr Pincher was promoted in February – but argued that was “unsubstantiated”.The latest twist to No 10’s version of events comes after the devastating intervention by a former head of the Foreign Office – who revealed Mr Johnson was briefed about the complaint in 2019.In a letter, Simon McDonald wrote: “Mr Pincher deceived me and others in 2019. He cannot be allowed to use the confidentiality of the process three years ago to pursue his predatory behaviour in other contexts.”But the prime minister’s spokesman continued to insist the information about Mr Pincher’s behaviour was no reason to bar him from the job as deputy chief whip, with responsibility for Tory MP’s welfare.He rejected an allegation that he sacrificed a duty of care to MPs and others in order to get his “fixer” into the role, as he fought off attempts to bring him down over the Partygate scandal.David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, leapt on Mr Johnson’s claim that he was unable to remember being told about Mr Pincher’s behaviour.“Let that sink in. The prime minister’s defence for promoting Pincher despite the complaint is seriously that he forgot,” he tweeted.But Mr Johnson’s spokesman insisted No 10 had not misled the public, arguing it “takes some time to establish he was briefed” about the complaint.“This dates back a number of years. On Friday, it was our belief that he was not informed about that specific incident,” he said.And he continued to defend the appointment, saying: “It was not raised as a disciplinary issue or anything related to the ministerial code and the prime minister was informed but not asked to take any action.”The spokesman also denied it is misleading to still claim the complaint was “resolved – when it is now known it was upheld – arguing that is the “terminology that was used”.The latest scandal to rock No 10 has reignited the determination of Tory rebels to remove Mr Johnson, but there can be no new no-confidence vote for a year unless party rules are changed.The rebels will aim to seize control of the executive of the 1922 Committee in next week’s elections, in order to try to do that. More

The latest scandal to hit British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deepened Tuesday as a former top civil servant publicly said Johnson’s office wasn’t telling the truth about how he handled allegations of misconduct against a senior member of his government.Johnson has been under pressure to explain what he knew about previous allegations of misconduct by lawmaker Chris Pincher since Thursday, when Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip amid complaints that he groped two men at a private club.The government’s explanation has shifted repeatedly over the past five days, with ministers initially saying Johnson wasn’t aware of earlier allegations of sexual misconduct in February, when he promoted Pincher to the post of deputy chief whip. By Monday, a spokesman said Johnson knew of allegations that were “either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.”That did not sit well with Simon McDonald, the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020. In a highly unusual move, he said Tuesday that the prime minister’s office still wasn’t telling the truth. In a letter to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, McDonald said he received complaints about Pincher’s behavior in the summer of 2019, shortly after Pincher became a Foreign Office minister. An investigation upheld the complaint and Pincher apologized for his actions, McDonald said. McDonald also disputed suggestions that Johnson was either unaware of the allegations or that they could be dismissed because they were either resolved or had not been made formally.“The original No. 10 line is not true and the modification is still not accurate,” McDonald wrote. “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. To characterize the allegations as ‘unsubstantiated’ is therefore wrong.”When asked about the letter, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said he didn’t know whether Johnson had been told about the Foreign Office investigation. Raab was foreign secretary at the time and worked with McDonald on the inquiry.“That’s news to me,” Raab told the BBC when asked about McDonald’s assertion that Johnson was told about the investigation. “I wasn’t aware of that, and it’s not clear to me that that is factually accurate.”The latest revelations are fueling discontent within Johnson’s Cabinet after ministers were forced to publicly deliver the prime minister’s denials, only to have the explanation shift the next day.The Times of London on Tuesday published an analysis of the situation under the headline “Claim of lying puts Boris Johnson in peril.”The scandal comes a month after Johnson survived a vote of no confidence in which more than 40% of Conservative Party lawmakers voted to remove him from office. Concerns about Johnson’s leadership were fueled by the prime minister’s shifting responses to months of allegations about lockdown-breaking parties in government offices that ultimately resulted in 126 fines, including one levied against Johnson.Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were badly beaten in two by-elections to fill vacant seats in Parliament, adding to discontent with Johnson’s leadership.Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip, a key position in enforcing party discipline, on Thursday, telling the prime minister that he “drank far too much” the previous night and had “embarrassed myself and other people.”Johnson initially refused to take the further step of suspending Pincher from the Conservative Party, but he relented after a formal complaint about the groping allegations was filed with parliamentary authorities. Critics suggest Johnson was slow to react to the scandal because he didn’t want to risk forcing Pincher to resign, setting up another potential special election defeat for the Conservatives.Even before the Pincher scandal, suggestions were swirling that Johnson may soon face another vote of no confidence. In the next few weeks, Conservative lawmakers will elect new members to the committee that sets parliamentary rules for the party. Several candidates have suggested they would support changing the rules to allow for another vote of no confidence, which is barred for 12 months under the existing rules. Senior Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale, a long-standing critic of Johnson, said he will now support a change of the rules of the Conservative 1922 Committee to allow the vote.“Mr. Johnson has for three days now been sending ministers — in one case a Cabinet minister — out to defend the indefensible, effectively to lie on his behalf. That cannot be allowed to continue,” he told the BBC. “This prime minister has trashed the reputation of a proud and honorable party for honesty and decency, and that is not acceptable. More

One of Boris Johnson’s ministers has publicly criticised the government’s decision to freeze the civil service graduate fast stream for at least year, saying it “makes no sense”.The comments from Greg Hands come after it was revealed the highly competitive scheme would be suspended as part of Mr Johnson’s controversial plans to reduce the civil service heacount by a fifth.He told the cabinet in May that “we have got to cut the cost of government to reduce the cost of living”, as he outlined proposals to cut the civil service to 2016 levels – a reduction of 91,000 staff.Leaked minutes from a meeting the same month showed the prime minister’s chief-of-staff and Cabinet Office minister Stephen Barclay confirmed the plan to pause the civil service fast stream “for at least a year”.In 2021, there were over 59,000 applications for the civil service fast stream, with just over 1,000 people appointed to various schemes, including project delivery and the diplomatic services.With the application website now confirming the move to freeze the scheme for the 2023 intake, Mr Hands, an energy minister, made clear his opposition on social media on Monday evening. “It makes perfect sense to control the size of government and ask why & where it has grown since 2016,” he said, but added: “It makes no sense to say, like this, that for one year, the best and the brightest aren’t welcome to serve their country”.Responding to Mr Hands’s comments, the former Tory cabinet minister Julian Smith, who said: “Totally agree. “Losing a great opportunity to harness young talent & pulling up the ladder to those young people who want to serve our nation. Bonkers”.The decision was also condemned by the former Conservative leader William Hague, who described the decision in June in article for The Times as the “wrong choice” and said the government had “opted for retrenchment”.When the move was confirmed earlier this year, a government spokesperson said: “As the prime minister has made clear, the civil service works hard to implement the government’s agenda and deliver for the public.“Our focus is on having a civil service that has the skills and capabilities to continue delivering outstanding public services, which is exactly why we have changed recruitment rules to bring in the very best talent and are investing in the professional development of our people”.They added: “It is crucial that all aspects of taxpayer spending demonstrates efficiency and value for money.“It was right to grow the civil service to deliver Brexit and deal with the pandemic, but we must now return it to 2016 staffing levels and have asked all government departments to set out how this might be achieved.” More

Conservative MPs feel “very sorry” for Tory MP Chris Pincher and believe he is a “victim in his own way”, one of his colleague has said.Mr Pincher quit as a government whip this week and lost the Conservative whip after he allegedly groped two men in a private members’ club.The allegation is the latest agains the MP, an earlier on of which led to an investigation by Whitehall authorities in 2019. Speaking on BBC Radio 5Live Michael Fabricant, who represents the constituency of Lichfield next to Mr Pincher’s in Tamworth, said:”On the one hand, of course, we’re all very sorry for people who’ve been affected by Chris’s action’s but we also quite frankly feel very sorry for Chris in many ways.”This is being driven most of the time, it seems by drink, and I know now that he’s actually sought and is already in contact with the clinical psychiatrists regarding regarding treatment.”When it was suggested to Mr Fabricant that drinking alcohol was not an excuse to the Conservative MP’s behaviour, he replied:”Of course not, but it’s an explanation. And, you know, that’s why many of us do feel that Chris, sadly, you know, is also in his own way, a victim.”After claiming Mr Pincher was a victim, Mr Fabricant repeatedly questioned whether it was appropriate to use the word “victim” regarding people who had made complaints against Mr Pincher.He said that the word “victim” to him “always seems very extreme word to use” in cases such as Mr Pincher’s, and later said he was “using [the word] ‘victims’ in inverted commas” with regards to the MP’s accusers. He cast doubt on the accusations levelled against the Tamworth MP and claimed some accusers had retracted their statements, though he did not give examples.Mr Fabricant also put Mr Pincher’s actions down to “the nature of the long hours” of being an MP, which he said made it hard to have a family life.”I’m saying that nothing is black and white in this world if only it was that simple. It isn’t that simple,” he said.”It does make me wonder precisely, you know, who is the guilty party who is the innocent party and whether it is wholly that Chris Pincher is someone you know, who is in that position.”The scandal over the MP’s alleged behaviour escalated to Downing Street on Tuesday morning after the former Tory civil servant at the foreign office accused No 10 of not telling the truth.Lord McDonald, who was head of the diplomatic service at the time Mr Pincher was subject to a formal complaint, about his behaviour said it was said it was “not true” that Mr Johnson was not aware of the allegations.Downing Street had previously claimed the prime minister was not across the claims before he appointed Mr Pincher deputy chief whip.But in a letter to the parliamentary standards commissioner Lord McDonald said: “Mr Johnson was briefed in person about the initiative 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. To characterise the allegations as ‘unsubstantiated’ is therefore wrong.”Speaking in BBC Radio 4’s Today programme after the release of his letter, he added: “I think they need to come clean.”Mr Pincher who is yet to resign his seat in the Commons, said he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people” by his actions. More