‘I was stitched up by a Mr Bean-like PM and worst Chief Whip ever’

Sacked Minister cleared over late-night ‘grope’ says...

A FORMER Minister who has had the Tory whip restored after being cleared of ‘serious misconduct’ at the Tory Party Conference has condemned the ‘stitch-up’ which saw him lose his job for allegedly touching a man’s thigh in a bar.

Conor Burns was sacked as Trade Minister by Liz Truss following complaints about his behaviour to the then Chief Whip, Wendy Morton, by one of her ‘spotters’ in the Birmingham bar.

In a statement, the party said that after reviewing the evidence there was ‘no basis on which to investigate further’. Mr Burns told The Mail on Sunday he felt he had been ‘thrown to the wolves’ after being ‘caught in the crosshairs of a toxic combination of the collapse of Liz Truss’s political authority and the worst Chief Whip in history’, adding: ‘Truss regarded herself as the new Margaret Thatcher, but was closer to Mr Bean.’

The Bournemouth West MP said: ‘I never thought the Tory Party would reverse the fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty.’

Expressing his relief at the finding, Mr Burns – who has not been promised a return to a ministerial position – said he believed he had been the victim

of a ‘stitch-up’, as he had been complimentary about Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch – one of Ms Truss’s rivals for the Tory leadership.

‘I think this had all become more to do with nice things I had said about the Trade Secretary than about being up late at the conference,’ he said.

Describing it as ‘unacceptable’ for him to be ‘left in limbo’ without being told what was being alleged, he said: ‘When your 80-year-old father is saying “When is this going to end?” and you spend your time reassuring everyone you are fine, when you are far from fine, it is difficult. I knew I was innocent and the truth will out, and it has.’

The case has fuelled concerns that party managers have become too trigger-happy in cases of alleged sexual impropriety, leading to the naming and shaming of supposed culprits before their guilt has been established. The ‘victim’ in this case did not complain.

In a statement, a Tory spokesman said: ‘The party investigated a complaint in line with its code of conduct. The matter is closed and Mr Burns’s membership will be reinstated at the nearest possible opportunity.’