Whether it was No. 10 parties or Chris Pincher’s misconduct claims, Tory MPs grew used to having defend Boris Johnson in various scrapes and scandals in office. Now though he’s gone but even six months on, some Conservatives seem unable (or unwilling) to kick the habit. A case in point is provided by Scott Benton, one of the more enthusiastic members of the 2019 intake. He has been a consistent supporter of Boris Johnson throughout his, er, challenges and has clearly taken umbrage at the Privileges Committee’s ongoing investigation into whether the ex-premier lied to the House.
So angered was Benton by yesterday’s evidence session that he took to that great organ of Middle England opinion – the Daily Express – to vent his spleen at his fellow parliamentarians. In a punchy piece headlined ‘Show trial’s echoes of OJ Simpson’ Benton wrote that ‘what I witnessed on Wednesday was an obsessive and disproportionate process that sets a dangerous precedent… it is time for this farce to end and for him to be acquitted.’
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