LONDON (Reuters) – A British Conservative lawmaker stated he would meet police to debate his accusations that Boris Johnson’s government had tried to “blackmail” parliamentarians who have been suspected of attempting to pressure the prime minister from workplace.
William Wragg, chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and a member of Johnson’s ruling social gathering, stated on Thursday some Conservatives had confronted intimidation and blackmail from government representatives due to their want to topple Johnson.
“I stand by what I’ve stated. No quantity of gaslighting will change that,” he instructed the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “The supply of Number 10 to research is variety however I shall depart it to the consultants. I’m assembly the police early subsequent week.”
In response to Wragg’s allegations Johnson instructed broadcasters on Thursday that he had neither seen nor heard any proof to assist Wragg’s claims. His workplace has stated it will have a look at any such proof “very rigorously”.
London’s Metropolitan Police stated on Saturday it couldn’t touch upon any particular deliberate conferences.
“As with any such allegations, ought to a prison offence be reported to the Met, it will be thought of,” a spokesman stated.
Johnson, who in 2019 received his social gathering’s largest majority in additional than 30 years, is preventing to shore up his authority after a sequence of revelations about events in his Downing Street residence throughout COVID-19 lockdowns.
The “partygate” scandals, which adopted criticism of the government’s dealing with of a corruption row and different mis-steps, have dominated British politics for over a month, and drained public assist from each Johnson personally and his social gathering.
Johnson, who has repeatedly apologised for the events and stated he was unaware of lots of them, has admitted he attended what he stated he thought was a piece occasion on May 20 final yr, when social mixing was largely banned. Invitations had requested employees to “convey their very own booze” to the occasion.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray is predicted to ship a report into the events subsequent week, with many Conservative lawmakers saying they might await her findings earlier than deciding whether or not they would take motion to topple Johnson.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Frances Kerry)
