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unpaid work from five o clock today unless ordered to do so, amid a pay dispute. xijinping defends china s model of ruling hong kong during a visit to mark 25 years since britain handed over control but the territory s final governor, chris patten, labels the comments absurd . cheering in sport, britain s heather watson is through to the last 16 of wimbledon after beating kaja juvan in straight sets. and coming up on the film review later, if you want some comedy the minions are back. find out why marco made loves them so much. that s coming up at 5:45pm mark kermode. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. downing street has insisted that boris johnson was not aware of specific allegations against chris pincher before he appointed him as the conservative party s deputy chief whip. the prime minister is also facing calls to suspend the mp who s alleged to have groped two men. chris pincher resigned as deputy chief whip after admitting he had drunk far too m ....
And the spotlight has moved on to problems in his party, one of his closest allies has resigned following serious allegations about his conduct. chris pincher worked hard to keep borisjohnson in office during partygate. he became deputy chief whip in february and was responsible for party discipline. but his own lack of discipline on wednesday led to this letter of resignation on thursday. chris pincher was said by witnesses to be drinking heavily at a reception at this conservative private members club in central london. the more serious allegation that came to light is that he groped two men. downing street does not believe that further action is necessary following the resignation and he can continue as mp but critics say ....
Shoring up support for the prime minister among conservative mps and when he was made deputy chief whip in a reshuffle in february, it was seen as something of a reward for his loyalty. that may have played a part in borisjohnson s reluctance to at least initially suspend the whip or take further action against chris pincher but yes, he is certainly seen as someone who has been close to borisjohnson and influential in maintaining his support among parliamentary colleagues. but his behaviour certainly earlier this week in the carlton club, where he was drinking with colleagues and others on wednesday night, fell short of the standards expected of conservative mps and he has now not only apologised, not only resigned as a government whip but now had the conservative party whip withdrawn from him. ithink conservative party whip withdrawn from him. i think this reflects the response we seem to these events ....
Minister, downing street attempted to draw a line under the affair, saying he had done the decent thing and resigned, he had recognised his behaviour fell short of the standards and therefore no further action should have been taken but almost immediately, labour, liberal democrats and other opposition parties and some conservatives too started to ask questions about how he could continue as a conservative mp and those calls have only grown today and the pressure has increased on the conservative party and the government to suspend the whip and thatis government to suspend the whip and that is where we are this evening. part of the significance is that chris pincher might not be a household name but he has been a very, very close ally of the prime minister. he very, very close ally of the prime minister. . , ., , ., minister. he has. he was influential when boris minister. he has. he was influential when boris johnson minister. he has. he was influential when boris johnson was mi ....
Each wave but shorter durations. so, it s not a forlorn hope that this won t be a particularly prolonged peak. won t be a particularly prolonged eak. . ., won t be a particularly prolonged eak. ., ~ ,, , won t be a particularly prolonged eak. ., ~ i., , . ., peak. thank you very much indeed for our time. police officers in scotland are preparing to withdraw their goodwill in a dispute about pay. they aren t allowed to go on strike, instead the action which will begin at five o clock this afternoon, will include not starting shifts early or taking radio equipment home. the scottish police federation described it as the most overt demonstration of action in more than a century. police scotland says it s committed to seeking a settlement. let s talk to our correspondent in scotland alexandra mackenzie. talk us through what exactly this action is going to mean. this happened action is going to mean. this happened at action is going to mean. this happened at 5pm, action is goi ....