The embattled UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday denied charges that his aides blackmailed MPs of his own party who demanded his resignation over the Downing Street party scandal.
Tory MP William Wragg asked any aggrieved MPs to report to the police if they have felt any intimidation. Another Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to the Labour Party and was quoted as saying by news agencies that he faced threats over funding of a school if he did not fall in line. “I was threatened that I would not get the school for Radcliffe if I didn’t vote one particular way,” Wakeford was quoted as saying by news agency BBC’s North West Tonight.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, who still remains in a tough spot over the breach of Covid-19 lockdown rules for several parties held inside Downing Street, denied any such attempt, according to a report by news agency BBC.
“I have seen no evidence, heard no evidence,” Johnson was quoted as saying by news agency BBC. Another report by the AFP also pointed out that rebel Tory MP William Wragg called for a party confidence vote. “The intimidation of a member of parliament is a serious matter. Reports of which I am aware would seem to constitute blackmail,” Wragg was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
Wragg also alleged that government whips, the MPs who are in charge of discipline within the party, intimidated the MPs with threats of the removal of government investment in their respective constituencies.
The UK parliament speaker Lindsay Hoyle said that if the allegations are proven true will amount to contempt of the UK parliament which is a criminal offence. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon who also demanded Johnson’s resignation said that the charge was akin to corruption. She also said that Johnson was tarnishing the office of the prime minister.
Several Tory MPs demanded the resignation of Boris Johnson over the past two weeks after details of the lockdown party in April 2021 inside the No 10 were revealed and showed that those gatherings were in breach of the Covid-19 regulations UK was under. Reports have also surfaced of similar parties held in 2020 as well.
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