UK PM Boris Johnson ‘forgot’ about groping complaints against MP
- The prime minister’s office earlier claimed he was not briefed on allegations faced by deputy whip Chris Pincher, who resigned in dramatic fashion last week
- The new admission comes after an ex-top civil servant came forward to say this was ‘not true’, and that Johnson had been told about the accusations in person
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to remember he had been told that Chris Pincher was the subject of an official complaint about his conduct, his office has said.
The prime minister’s spokesman confirmed that Johnson was briefed on the complaint by officials at the Foreign Office in 2019, a “number of months” after it took place.
The spokesman said the complaint against Pincher – who was Europe minister at the time – was upheld although it did not lead to formal disciplinary action.
The prime minister’s office, No 10 Downing Street, had previously claimed Johnson had not been aware of any “specific allegations”, after Pincher’s dramatic resignation last week as deputy chief whip following claims he groped two men at a private members’ club.
“At the time last week that was the prime minister’s view. You will appreciate it takes some time to establish he was briefed, albeit we don’t think in formal briefing on this,” the spokesman said.
“This dates back a number of years. On Friday, it was our belief that he was not informed about that specific incident.”