Category Archives: Sex

Police should never have employed Wayne Couzens, report finds. But they did, along with how many more?

Endangered by the police: This Site published the infographic above in 2021. We have seen no material changes in the police since then.

Does everybody feel better or worse, now we have a report showing that Wayne Couzens – the rapist and murderer of Sarah Everard, should never have been allowed to be a police officer?

The report shows multiple failures to identify Couzens’s danger to women and unsuitability to be a member of the police, saying they were missed by three forces.

Missed? Or ignored?

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Read:

Sarah Everard’s family have said she was kidnapped and murdered by Wayne Couzens because he was armed with police powers he should never have had, after an official report revealed new and damning failures by police who missed his prolific sexual offending dating back almost 20 years.

The failures laid out in the report by Lady Elish Angiolini are worse than previously thought, and she concludes Couzens should never have been a police officer. She highlighted a series of chances to spot his danger to women and his unsuitability to be an officer that were missed by repeated bungling in three forces.

He was a Metropolitan police officer and entrusted with a gun as part of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command.

Some of the allegations the inquiry highlights were not reported to police before Couzens went hunting for a woman on London’s streets in March 2021, but in all, eight allegations were passed to officers, with next to nothing done.

This Writer does not for one moment believe that the contents of the Angiolini report will do anything to deter police forces like the Met from employing serial rapists, murderers and/or other offenders; they simply don’t care and never have.

My advice to women is: never be alone with any police officer, under any circumstances. Always have somebody there to witness what they say and do to you. If they stop you alone on the street, go to the nearest house and seek help from there.

Yes – I’m making the police seem as bad as the criminals from whom they are supposed to protect us.

That’s because – from a wealth of evidence over the past years and with apologies to the many who do try to uphold the law – we have to believe that they are.

Source: Police should never have employed Wayne Couzens, report finds | Police | The Guardian


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Why are sex criminals not AUTOMATICALLY BLOCKED from standing to be an MP?

Sexual crime: is it right that people who have been convicted of much worse offences than touching someone on the shoulder (this was the most usable image I could find) may seek election to Parliament?

Imagine This Writer’s surprise when I read a headline stating that prime minister Rishi Sunak is being urged to block anybody who has been convicted of sexual offences from seeking election to Parliament.

Shouldn’t that be automatic in any case?

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Here’s The Guardian:

At least six MPs have lost their seats because of alleged sexual misconduct since the 2019 general election, and 10 MPs have been suspended from their parties pending investigations.

While all political parties have their own procedures for vetting MP hopefuls, politicians and unions believe formal rules to block relevant candidates will make it easier to “weed out the bad apples”.

A former minister said: “I can’t believe this has to become formal policy, but history shows how bad the working environment in Westminster has become for this to be needed. Working standards for people on the estate are at a pretty low bar.”

The Scottish parliament is expected to vote through rules to bar anyone convicted of a sexual offence and subject to a restriction order from standing to be an MSP or as a councillor [because] like councillors, MSPs were in a position of power and authority and often dealt with vulnerable constituents, an official briefing paper said.

“The roots of this move are grounded in both protecting the public in personal encounters with elected representatives and also a more general reputational concern based on trust and confidence,” the briefing paper said.

A link to the article is below, along with a satirical comment on implications for the future of MP candidate selection that might be a little close to the truth:

It could be argued that introducing such restrictions assumes there is no hope for reform, or that it may lead to “mission creep” that rules out candidates who have been convicted of much more minor offences.

But those are issues that could more rightly be addressed at a more appropriate time.

Aren’t they?


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Media complicity in genocide: Sky News gives airtime to liar and switches off comments

Do not believe the person interviewed below.

It appears to be yet another attempt by Israel’s apologists to claim that Israeli women were subjected to systematic sexual violence by Hamas personnel and other Palestinians when they broke out from Gaza to kill around 1,200 Israelis (roughly half of whom were military personnel) on October 7 last year.

It is still possible that sexual violence took place, but if you read the information below, you’ll see that there’s no evidence for it – certainly not on anything like the scale or level of atrocity that is being alleged.

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Read the cautionary note from Max Blumenthal, and the thread following, before coming to your own conclusion:

It seems we can wipe Zaka off the list of credible sources of information.

And I’d urge you to remember this if you see Camilla Tominey on Politics Live, or any other news commentary shows.


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Guardian reports ‘systematic use of rape by Hamas’ – and why I don’t believe it

Admitting rape: but is this a member of Hamas? No – it’s a former member of the Israel Defence Force, where sexual violence appears to be part of the culture.

The Guardian has published a piece claiming that members of Hamas committed rape and sexual violence during the October 7 attacks on Israel that is, on the face of it, horrifying.

Reporter Bethan McKernan – in Jerusalem – says the paper has been made aware of sexual assaults for which multiple corroborating pieces of evidence exist:

By cross-referencing testimonies given to police, published interviews with witnesses, and photo and video footage taken by survivors and first responders, the Guardian is aware of at least six sexual assaults for which multiple corroborating pieces of evidence exist. Two of those victims, who were murdered, were aged under 18.

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At least seven women who were killed were also raped in the attack, according to Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a legal scholar and international women’s rights advocate, from her examination of evidence so far. The New York Times and NBC have both identified more than 30 killed women and girls whose bodies bear signs of abuse, such as bloodied genitals and missing clothes, and according to the Israeli welfare ministry, five women and one man have come forward seeking help for sexual abuse over the past few months.

Rape and sexual assault are considered war crimes and a breach of international humanitarian law. Hamas has denied the accusations of sexual violence.

It is entirely possible that some criminal opportunists in Hamas or the other groups that broke out with it on October 7 committed heinous crimes against women.

But I find the evidence being presented hard to believe for two reasons.

First, we are told that the emergency services who dealt with the dead did not consider sexual violence at the appropriate time:

Emergency responders risked their lives in the fighting on 7 October and several days afterwards to rescue the wounded and retrieve the dead. The chaos meant there were significant failings in preserving evidence of gender-based violence and what is coming to be seen as the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war by Hamas.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, overwhelmed by the sheer number of victims, and the burned or disfigured state of some of the bodies, morgues were preoccupied with identification and did not have the time or capacity to test for sexual assault using rape kits, said the police spokesperson Mirit Ben Mayor. Lack of trained personnel was also a problem: according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, there are only seven forensic pathologists in the entire country.

Secondly, all of the eyewitness evidence – as far as This Writer can tell – comes via the Israeli authorities that have been desperate to accuse Hamas of widespread rape and sexual violence since the October 7 attacks took place – as if that can justify their killing of around 25,000 innocent Gazans, including 10,000 children, in response.

In fact, Israel released an enormous mass of propaganda after October 7 – most, if not all, of which was proved to be a pack of lies, as documented on This Site.

That alone makes any new evidence coming from that country and anyone connected with its government, military or other authorities, highly suspicious – especially after more than three months.

Coupled with that must be the fact that the Israeli Defence Forces have been repeatedly accused of rape themselves:

The immediately preceding clip stated that sex crimes against women in the Israeli armed forces were not adequately handled. Following up on that:

The list goes on and on.

Nothing that is said above should be considered to be supporting/condoning rape and sexual violence – of any kind.

It is entirely possible that members of Hamas and the other groups who carried out the October 7 attacks committed sexual crimes as part of them.

But by reeling out false accusations time and time again, the Israeli government and its spokespeople have made it almost impossible to believe the current accusations.

I’m not the only one who thinks this:

And the recorded conduct of the IDF makes this a classic situation of people in the proverbial glass house, throwing stones.

Put it all together and it should be easy to understand why I do not believe the latest claims.

Source: Evidence points to systematic use of rape and sexual violence by Hamas in 7 October attacks | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian


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Sign the petition for reform of rapist-ridden (?) police

This seems self-explanatory:

The full petition states:

“Cases of abuse of women by police are all too often making headlines. An investigation conducted by Refuge into alleged cases of abuse of women by police-perpetrators, shockingly revealed that, of the total number of cases of officers accused of violence against women and girls (VAWG) between 2022 and 2023, only 24% were suspended while under investigation.

“How can women feel safe coming forward to report abuse when so little is being done to root out abusers from within policing’s own ranks?

“The government must act now to prove that their promise to make violence against women and girls a strategic policing priority is more than just words on paper. We’re demanding they take action to root out every ‘bad apple’ effectively and swiftly to restore public confidence in policing.”

It states: “How many more bad apples? Together we’re calling on the Home Secretary to enforce mandatory suspension of all potential abusers, until and only if, they’re cleared following investigation.”

And the petition reads: “To: The Home Secretary

“Please implement a consistent suspension policy across police forces in England and Wales, where all police officers and staff accused of violence against women and girls are suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.”

This Writer is thinking of recent cases in the Metropolitan Police, in particular, and of the finding that the culture in that particular service means that rape is no longer treated as a crime in its area.

So I’ve signed the petition. Will you?

Peter Bone is shafted in constituency recall vote. By-election to follow

Peter Bone: he’s lost his seat over claims of sexual impropriety.

This is pretty much the size of it:

In brief, Peter Bone has lost his Parliamentary seat representing Wellingborough, triggering a by-election that is not likely to take place before February.

MPs had voted to suspend him from Parliament for six weeks for breaching the code of conduct for MPs, making it possible for constituents to demand a recall petition. This was signed by 13.2 per cent of eligible voters – well above the 10 per cent required for him to lose his seat.

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According to the BBC,

An investigation by Parliament’s behavioural watchdog, the Independent Expert Panel, found Mr Bone had broken sexual misconduct rules by indecently exposing himself to a staff member during an overseas trip.

It also upheld five allegations of bullying, including verbally belittling the member of staff, physically striking him and throwing things at him.

Mr Bone appealed against the investigation’s findings, arguing it had been flawed. However, his appeal was dismissed.

This Site covered those allegations here.

Bone has denied the allegations against him and may choose to contest the seat in the coming by-election.

Others have already formed their own conclusions:


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Has another naughty Tory triggered ANOTHER by-election countdown?

Peter Bone: the alleged sexual misconduct took place between a male staff member and the Brexiter MP on a trip to Madrid. With hindsight, he may wish that the UK had withdrawn from the EU a little sooner than it did.

Oh my word. Yet another Tory has been suspended on charges including sexual misconduct – indecent exposure. And it’s Peter Bone!

I hope we can all resist any obvious nickname suggestions…

According to the BBC,

It follows a complaint made to the body by a former member of staff, over alleged behaviour which took place over 10 years ago.

Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found Mr Bone broke Parliament’s sexual misconduct rules by indecently exposing himself to the staffer during an overseas trip.

It also upheld five allegations of bullying, including “instructing, or physically forcing, the complainant to put his hands in his lap when Mr Bone was unhappy with him or his work”.

It also found he “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” him, and “repeatedly physically struck and threw things” at him, including hitting him with his hand or an object such as a pencil or a rolled-up document.

It also upheld an allegation Mr Bone “repeatedly pressurised” the staffer to give him a massage in the office. It found this was bullying, but not sexual misconduct.

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Here’s a more personal perspective on it:

Bone has released his own statement:

He says the investigation was “flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations”, the claims against him “false and untrue”, and he’s discussing further action with his lawyers.

Meanwhile, MPs will have to vote on whether to suspend him from Parliament for six weeks, as recommended.

If that happens, it would trigger a recall petition that could potentially lead to a by-election in Mr Bone’s Wellingborough seat.


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Media attacks on Russell Brand are missing the target; they should look at themselves

The accused: Russell Brand is said to have committed a string of sexual assaults including rape but the only trial he has faced so far has been by the mainstream media – which seem biased against him because of the questions he has raised about them. And doesn’t their manufactured outrage indicate that his arguments have merit?

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I wasn’t going to write about this.

The accusations of sexual assaults, including rape, against Russell Brand are serious matters that, now exposed, are for the police to investigate and – if necessary – prosecute. I would wish to let that happen without comment – partly in order not to prejudice any such investigation.

But the mainstream media seem (and I place emphasis on that word) determined to give Brand a kicking for the years he has spent criticising them and their own biases.

So a couple of days ago (September 17, 2023), we saw The Guardian publishing a piece headlined Now we’ll see how many bought Brand’s anti-‘mainstream media’ shtick.

Jonathan Cook, below, blows the whistle on what it seems (there’s that word again) to be about:

There is an element of the either/or narrative Mr Cook suggests in Jim Waterson’s piece; right at the start, he states:

Russell Brand has spent the past decade telling the world not to trust the mainstream media industry. Now the comedian will find out whether the wider public has bought into this scorched-earth narrative – or if they believe the claims of rape and sexual assault.

Why can’t we believe both?

Just because a person does wrong in one way, that doesn’t mean everything they say and do is untrue or even unacceptable; even if Brand is eventually convicted as a rapist, that should not invalidate any good arguments he makes about the media.

You see – if they are good arguments, they should stand up regardless of who has put them forward.

They should also stand up regardless of whether people branded as undesirable by the mainstream media have stood up to support Brand. Waterson mentions Elon Musk, Andrew Tate and Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson in an apparent attempt at “guilt by association”.

But in fact, Waterson’s article can be seen to support some of those arguments itself; for This Writer’s money, it seems to have been mis-headlined.

He goes on to admit,

there are still questions for mainstream British broadcasters to answer

and he lists some of them, which make it seem (yet again!) apparent that media representatives encouraged aberrant behaviour by Brand while he was working for them:

Hypersexualisation and graphic descriptions of sexual desire were part of his public persona – which is not illegal, but may have been considered red flags by those hiring him to present shows.

During Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary, there is a clip of the comedian telling Lorraine Kelly: “If you’re in a position of some success, people will let you be a nutter as long as they’re making money out of it.”

The suggestion is that – as far as mainstream media moguls were concerned – Brand could do whatever he wanted, as long as he was telling the world what they wanted him to say.

It is only since he turned against the mainstream that they have been looking for a way to undermine him. Waterson states that the initial inquiries against Brand began almost five years ago, after he started criticising the MSM. Why not before, if his behaviour was so well-known?

It seems to me that the media outrage against Brand may be nothing more than hypocritical ass-covering; an attempt to hide its own complicity any any wrong-doing by stirring up hysteria against him now.

And part of that is an attempt to discredit his arguments against them – arguments that may in fact be proved by their naked aggression against him.


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Tamworth on by-election alert as ‘Pincher by name…’ loses suspension appeal

Boris Johnson and Chris Pincher: a poor choice of friends?

A former Tory whip who used to shout abuse at Jeremy Corbyn during Prime Minister’s Questions has lost an appeal against suspension after he groped two other men – putting his constituency on by-election alert.

Chris Pincher is the MP who cost Boris Johnson his job as Prime Minister.

Initially, he was best-known as the one who hid behind other Tories in order to shout abuse at then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during Prime Minister’s Questions:

But on July 1, 2022, he resigned as a Tory whip after it was alleged that he groped two other men at the private Carlton Club.

In his resignation letter to Johnson, he said he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people”.

But the apparent double sexual assault was not investigated by the Conservative Party, nor were the police, apparently, contacted.

New claims against Pincher stacked up in the following days. The BBC listed them in the following way:

The Sunday Times reported Mr Pincher had placed his hand on the inner leg of a male Tory MP in a bar in Parliament in 2017.

The newspaper reported Mr Pincher also made unwanted advances towards a different male Tory MP in 2018 while in his parliamentary office, and towards a Tory activist in Tamworth around July 2019.

The Mail on Sunday carried allegations he had made advances against an individual a decade ago, and that a female Tory staffer had tried to prevent his advances towards a young man at a Conservative Party conference.

The Independent carried allegations from an unnamed male Conservative MP that Mr Pincher groped him on two separate occasions in December 2021 and June this year.

The Sunday Times reported that the MP involved in the alleged incident in 2018 contacted No 10 before Mr Pincher was made a whip in February, passing on details of what he said had happened to him and voicing his concerns about him being appointed to the role.

Former Johnson aide Dominic Cummings was said to have claimed that the then-prime minister referred to him as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature”. But Johnson himself was said to have considered the matter closed after Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip.

This raised concerns about unequal treatment of MPs who are accused of inappropriate behaviour (or, in this case, sexual crimes). Pincher was subsequently reported to Parliament’s independent behaviour watchdog and an inquiry began.

The controversy – and Boris Johnson’s failure to act in a timely way – led to renewed speculation over his fitness to continue as the UK’s political leader. This intensified after it was stated that he had indeed known of Pincher’s behaviour before appointing him to the Tory whips’ office:

The revelation came from the BBC:

Boris Johnson was made aware of a formal complaint about Chris Pincher’s “inappropriate behaviour” while Mr Pincher was a Foreign Office minister from 2019-20, BBC News can reveal.

It triggered a disciplinary process that confirmed the MP’s misconduct. Mr Pincher apologised after the process concluded, BBC News has been told.

BBC News understands the PM and the foreign secretary at the time – Dominic Raab – knew about the issue.

The Prime Minister’s office claimed that “no official complaints [about Pincher] were ever made”.

McDonald of Salford, a crossbench peer who was formerly (as Simon McDonald) Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, blew that – and subsequent li(n)es out of the water.

In a letter to Kathryn Stone, then-Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, he stated: “This is not true. In the summer of 2019, shortly after he was appointed minister of state at the Foreign Office, a group of officials complained to me about Mr Pincher’s behaviour. I discussed the matter with the relevant official at the Cabinet Office. (In substance, the allegations were similar to those made about his behaviour at the Carlton Club.) An investigation upheld the complaint; Mr Pincher apologised and promised not to repeat the inappropriate behaviour. There was no repetition at the FCO before he left seven months later.”

The letter added that a BBC website report stated: “Downing Street has said Boris Johnson was not aware of any specific allegations when he appointed Mr Pincher deputy chief whip in February,” then added: “By 4 July, the BBC website reflected a change in No 10’s line: ‘The prime minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson knew of “allegations that were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint”, adding that “it was deemed not appropriate to stop an appointment simply because of unsubstantiated allegations”.’

“The original No 10 line is not true and the modification is still not accurate. 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 characterise the allegations as ‘unsubstantiated’ is therefore wrong.

“I am aware that [it] is unusual to write to you and simultaneously publicise the letter. I am conscious of the duty owed to the target of an investigation but I act out of my duty towards the victims. 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.”

He didn’t say Boris Johnson had been lying in his letter, but in a subsequent interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he might as well have: “I think they need to come clean. I think that the language is ambiguous, the sort of telling the truth and crossing your fingers at the same time and hoping that people are not too forensic in their subsequent questioning and I think that is not working.”

The peer’s revelations triggered a slew of new accusations against Boris Johnson and his administration.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “The prime minister knew about the seriousness of these complaints but decided to promote this man to a senior position in government anyway. He refused to act and then lied about what he knew.”

It became apparent that Downing Street had not even provided the government’s spokesperson-of-the-day with the facts, when Dominic Raab tried, on the Today programme, to push the line that Boris Johnson had not been briefed about disciplinary action against Pincher.

Himself a former foreign secretary, Raab said he had spoken with Johnson over the last 24 hours and had been assured that the prime minister had not been briefed.

Then Lord McDonald appeared on the same programme and categorically stated that Johnson had been told everything at the time.

So Raab’s story changed by the time he got to LBC radio: “There was a review, an investigation if you like … to decide whether a formal disciplinary action or an investigation and process was warranted.

“The review, conducted under the auspices of Sir Simon – now Lord – McDonald was that disciplinary action was not warranted. That doesn’t mean that inappropriate behaviour didn’t take place. We were clear that what happened was inappropriate, but we resolved it without going for a formal disciplinary process.”

Raab said he told Pincher “in no uncertain terms” that his conduct had been unacceptable.

So Raab was saying that the complaint against Pincher had been upheld, but that did not mean he was guilty – even though Raab himself had told the MP that his conduct had been unacceptable.

Does that make any sense to you?

It didn’t make sense to Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain, who grilled Raab over his misuse of language:

It seems this cack-handed handling of a serious matter was the last straw for many backbench Tory MPs, who said Johnson had “learned nothing” from Partygate and “the same mistakes are again being made“.

They called for a change to the rules of the 1922 Committee to allow another confidence vote to take place against him.

Later that day – July 5 – Johnson’s Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, quit – along with several junior ministers who were Parliamentary aides to Cabinet ministers: Jonathan Gullis, Saqib Bhatti, Nicola Richards, and Virginia Crosbie.

Tory vice-chair Bim Afolami was also out – he quit on TalkTV’s The News Desk show:

Andrew Murrison resigned as Johnson’s trade emissary to Morocco, as did Theodora Clarke, trade emissary to Kenya.

Ms Clarke said in her resignation letter: “To learn that you chose to elevate a colleague to a position of pastoral care for MPs, whilst in full knowledge of his own wrongdoing, shows a severe lack of judgement and care for your Parliamentary party.

“I was shocked to see colleagues defending the Government with assurances that have turned out to be false. This is not the way that any responsible Government should act.”

Attorney General Alex Chalk threw in the towel late that evening. His resignation letter stated: “To be in government is to accept the duty to argue for difficult or even unpopular policy positions where that serves the broader national interest. But it cannot extend to defending the indefensible.

“The cumulative effect of the Owen Paterson debacle, Partygate and now the handling of the former Deputy Chief Whip’s resignation, is that public confidence in the ability of Number 10 to uphold the standards of candour expected of a British Government has irretrievably broken down. I regret that I share that judgement.”

Then came a flurry of resignations, intended to fit in before Prime Minister’s Questions.

First to go on the morning of July 6 was another Parliamentary Private Secretary, Laura Trott. Her resignation letter, posted on her Facebook account, said trust in politics was of the “upmost [sic] importance”, adding “but sadly in recent months this has been lost”.

Next was Children’s Minister Will Quince, who said he was left with “no choice” after 10 Downing Street sent him out to defend Johnson with “inaccurate” lines. He said: “I accepted and repeated assurances on Monday (July 4) to the media which have now been found to be inaccurate.”

In media interviews, Quince had said he had been given assurances that Johnson had not been aware of complaints against Chris Pincher. It later emerged this was not true.

Robin Walker, Minister for School Standards, quit saying the government has been “overshadowed by mistakes and questions about integrity”.

Lee Anderson, the Red Wall Tory who was ridiculed for saying it was possible to cook nutritious meals for 30p, quit at around 10.30am. On the Pinchergate lies, he stated: “I cannot look myself in the mirror and accept this… Integrity should always come first and sadly this has not been the case over the past few days.”

Also quitting were Treasury Minister John Glen and another PPS, Felicity Buchan.

Oh – and Justice Minister Victoria Atkins.

And key backbencher Robert Halfon also announced that he had lost confidence in Johnson. In a letter, he said he was “previously against any leadership change… during Covid, a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine. However, after the events of the past few days and the resignation of Cabinet members, I feel that the public have been misled about the appointment of the former deputy chief whip [Chris Pincher].

“The parties at Number 10 Downing Street were bad enough but the appointment of this individual and the untruthful statement about what was known is unacceptable to me.”

Also withdrawing support were Chris Skidmore and Tom Hunt.

Later that day, “Levelling-Up” secretary Michael Gove publicly called for Boris Johnson to give up and go gracefully, and a delegation of Cabinet ministers attended 10 Downing Street to beg him to see sense. So Johnson sacked Gove.

This triggered a new wave of Cabinet resignations. Key among them was Michelle Donelan, who was only appointed as Education Secretary two days previously, after Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to become Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Zahawi himself appeared to have been moving to slip a knife into his boss’s back – because he was urging Johnson to quit by 8.45.

Also out was Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, while the total number of resignations from the government climbed towards 50.

By lunchtime on July 7, Johnson finally gave in to the inevitable and resigned as prime minister.

All that, just because he could not admit making a bad decision about one of his MPs.

And now the MP who triggered Johnson’s downfall has lost his appeal against suspension.

The BBC is reporting:

Chris Pincher’s appeal against a proposed eight-week suspension from the House of Commons for groping two men at a London club last year has been rejected.

In its report, Parliament’s conduct watchdog said the former Conservative deputy chief whip’s behaviour amounted to an abuse of power.

The decision means a by-election in his Tamworth seat is a step closer.

MPs will now vote on whether to approve the eight-week punishment.

The move is normally a formality and, if approved, would trigger a recall petition which could lead to a by-election.

Parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg found Mr Pincher groped a then-employee of the House of Lords on his arm and neck, before groping his bottom.

He also found he groped a civil servant’s bottom and then his testicles.

Pincher can take cold comfort in the fact that he managed to remain an MP longer than the prime minister whose poor judgement put him in a position of power over others.

After MPs approve the suspension, and if 10 per cent of voters in Tamworth sign a petition calling for one, there will be a by-election there.

Even though the Conservatives had a 19,000 majority in 2019, it seems unlikely that they will hold the seat – given the nature of Pincher’s conduct and the failure of the Tory government of which he was a member.

The big question is whether Keir Starmer’s party – the closest rival in 2019 – has the policies needed to take the constituency.

Or will another party, with a better reputation than either of the ‘Big Two’ rock up and take over instead?


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Ex-head of police watchdog charged with paedophilia | Financial Times

Michael Lockwood: accused of paedophilia.

It is hard to see how the police may ever restore their shattered reputation after this.

First we saw a string of offences committed by serving police officers including rape and murder.

Then we saw a damning report on the Metropolitan Police that said (among other criticisms) that rape might as well be legal in London.

Now we see a former head of the organisation that was supposed to guarantee that police uphold the highest standards being accused of sexual offences against an under-age girl.

We all know power corrupts. If these charges are proved, then it will once again be clear that the police have been given far too much of it.

And where is the Tory government in all this? Home Office ministers are supposed to ensure that the police bring justice to lawbreakers – not become criminals themselves.

Is this yet another example of the rot brought to the UK by the likes of Boris Johnson, who sends his lawbreaking friends to the House of Lords?

The former head of the police watchdog for England and Wales has been charged with rape and other sexual offences against a girl under the age of 16.

Michael Lockwood, 64, former director-general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, was charged with three offences of rape and six counts of indecent assault, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday.

Lockwood stepped down in December after the police investigation into the historical allegations became public.

The charges will be seen as another blow to public trust in policing. They come just a week after Andy Cooke, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, warned in his annual report that police forces in England and Wales were experiencing “one of their biggest crises in living memory” and that trust was “hanging by a thread”.

Source: Ex-head of police watchdog for England and Wales charged with rape | Financial Times


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