Sir Simon McDonald, a top civil servant of 40 years’ standing, has bulldozed through Number 10’s defences of Chris Pincher this morning, leaving the prime minister exposed.
The former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office says a complaint was made by civil servants about Mr Pincher’s behaviour when he was Europe minister in October 2019, that the complaint was similar to those reported last week – alleged groping of two men – and that an investigation upheld it.
Therefore the statement by Boris Johnson’s spokesman on Friday that he gave Mr Pincher the job of deputy chief whip in the absence of any formal complaint was “not true”, Lord McDonald says.
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And Downing Street’s different response yesterday that any complaints the prime minister knew about had been resolved, done and dusted in other words, was “not accurate either” because Mr Pincher was not exonerated – the complaint was upheld, and he was given a warning.
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary at the time, confirmed to Sky News that he had told Mr Pincher “in no uncertain terms he should desist” and this behaviour towards a colleague “must never be repeated” – but he claimed no further disciplinary action was taken as the victim did not want to pursue it.
Mr Raab said he was unaware of whether the prime minister knew about this at the time; another claim attacked by Lord McDonald, who says Mr Johnson was briefed in person about the investigation and its outcome. The prime minister will need to tackle that head on – and whether he misled his officials about it.
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According to those who know him, Sir Simon would not have taken the decision lightly to write this public letter accusing the prime minister of lying. In a radio interview this morning, he stresses that complaints of this nature against ministers are very rare and serious.
A former minister tells me his letter is a “huge development”. Several senior Tories, including former defence minister Tobias Ellwood on Sky News this morning, said ministers are frankly fed up with being sent out to defend positions from Number 10 which unravel within hours.
Labour are branding the affair a “cover up” and are likely to demand answers in Parliament via an urgent question today or failing that – at PMQs tomorrow.
As for Conservatives, the prime minister’s critics say his judgement is why 40% of the party voted no confidence in his leadership. An urgent question in Parliament will show up whether even loyal allies are willing to defend the handling of this.
There are also questions for Downing Street spokespeople. These are civil servants who speak on Mr Johnson and the government’s behalf and have already had to apologise for saying all rules were followed during the partygate scandal. They will face questions over whether they were misleading – or indeed misled by the prime minister.
