Keir Starmer has savaged Boris Johnson for keeping “predatory” Chris Pincher in a government job when he was aware of allegations about his behaviour.

The prime minister has been hit with a wave of ministerial resignations following the revelations about his former deputy chief whip.

Speaking during PMQs, Starmer read out the testimony of a man who accused Pincher of sexual assault.

“He knew the accused minister had previously committed predatory behaviour but he promoted him to a position of power anyway. Why?”

The Labour leader told Tory MPs: “They’re all sitting there as if this is normal behaviour.

“When that young man reported his attack to a government whip, she asked him if he was gay, when he said that he was, she replied ‘that doesn’t make it straightforward’.

“Will he apologise for those disgraceful comments on behalf of this government?”

Johnson replied that Pincher no longer had his job, nor the Conservative whip.

The PM added: “I want to say to him that I abhor bullying and abuse of power anywhere in parliament, in this party or in any other party.”

But Johnson also refused to deny he had once made light of the allegations by branding his ally: “Pincher by name, Pincher by nature.”

Starmer told him: “I’m not asking for bluster and half-truth. We’ve all had enough of that. Yes or no?”

Johnson has said that in “hindsight”, he should have realised that Pincher would have not changed.

Downing Street had initially said he had no knowledge of “specific” accusations against Pincher when he appointed him to the whip’s office in 2019.

But No.10 was then forced to admit the PM had been told about formal accusations against Pincher but decided to give him a job anyway.

Tory ministers resigning from Boris Johnson’s government is “the first case of sinking ships fleeing the rat”, Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister’s grip on power is hanging by a thread, as more ministers resigned from his government over the course of Wednesday morning following the exit of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid.

Johnson was greeted with laughter at the start of PMQs as he told MPs it was a “big day” for the government, but insisted he intended to “keep going” as he had a “colossal mandate”.

Starmer said any ministers resigning now after having long defended Johnson did not have a “shred of integrity”.

“Isn’t this the first recorded case of the sinking ships fleeing the rat?” the Labour leader said.

Starmer added of those ministers who had not yet quit: “As for those who are left, only in office because no-one else is prepared to debase themselves any longer.

“The charge of the lightweight brigade. Have some self-respect.”

“Doesn’t the country deserve better than a z list cast of nodding dogs?”

So far 17 ministers and junior ministerial aides have so far announced their resignations. One minister resigned just minutes into the start of PMQs.

The demands for Johnson to go are coming from across all wings of the party.

Formally super loyal backbenchers Lee Anderson and Tom Hunt, from the 2019 intake, have called on Johnson to quit.

Robert Halfon, the well respected chair of the Commons education committee, called for a change of leader given the “real loss of integrity” but also a “failure of policy”.

Johnson is seen as unlikely to resign, but he could face another vote of no confidence if the 1922 committee of backbench MPs decides to change its rules, allowing a second vote within a year.

Boris Johnson forgot he had been directly told an investigation was held into Chris Pincher’s behaviour, No.10 has claimed.

The prime minister is under mounting pressure over his decision to appoint close ally Chris Pincher to the job of deputy chief whip.

Downing Street’s explanation has changed over the course of the last five days.

A former senior civil servant this morning publicly accused No.10 of saying things that were “not true”.

Pincher resigned from the post on Thursday after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London last week.

Attention turned to what Johnson knew of allegations made about Pincher before he was appointed to the whips office in February 2022.

Downing Street said on Friday Johnson was not aware of any “specific” allegations about Pincher’s past behaviour.

On Monday morning No.10 shifted its position and said the prime minister had been aware of “allegations” as well as “reports and speculation” when he handed Pincher a job.

The PM’s spokesperson defended the decision on the basis that those previous allegations had either been “resolved” or “did not progress to a formal complaint”.

But early on Tuesday morning, Lord McDonald, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, said this was “not true”.

In a letter sent to the parliamentary standards commissioner, McDonald said in the summer of 2019 a complaint by a group of Foreign Office officials about Pincher’s conduct was investigated and upheld.

Crucially, McDonald said that the prime minister was informed of the outcome.

On Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister’s spokesperson said Johnson initially “didn’t recall” having been told about the incident when he was asked on Friday by Downing Street staff.

“At that point at the end of last week he hadn’t established that he had been informed of that in 2019 and we’ve subsequently been able to establish that he was given an update in some form,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said it was “broadly” correct to say the PM had forgotten.

“The prime minister always seeks to provide the information as he has it. This related to a conversation a number of years ago,” they said.

“I can confirm he was briefed on that about the complaint related to Mr Pincher in the Foreign Office which was resolved.”

Asked if they had faith the prime minister was telling them the “full truth”, the spokesperson said: “Yes.”

No.10 defended the decision to appoint Pincher as deputy chief whip in February 2020 on the basis there were “no live allegations against him” at the time.

In his letter, McDonald said: “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.”

Speaking later on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, McDonald added of No.10: “I think they need to come clean.

“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.”

Boris Johnson was aware of “reports and speculation” about Chris Pincher’s behaviour before appointing him deputy chief whip, No.10 has admitted.

The prime minister is under pressure to explain what he knew when he gave Pincher the job of enforcing party discipline in February.

Pincher resigned from the post on Friday after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London this week.

Downing Street and ministers have spent the weekend saying Johnson was not aware of “specific” allegations about Pincher.

Former No.10 adviser Dominic Cummings alleged Johnson had referred to the MP as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature” long before appointing him.

The PM’s spokesperson said on Monday: “The prime minister was aware of media reports that others had seen over the years and some allegations that were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.

“But at the time of the appointment of the deputy chief whip he was not aware of any specific allegations.”

They added: “He was aware there had been reports and speculation over the years with regards to this individual.”

It is the second time Pincher has quit the whips office. He resigned as a junior whip in November 2017 following a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at the former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story.

Story, who was a young Tory activist at the time, alleged that year that the MP untucked the back of his shirt, massaged his neck and whispered “You’ll go far in the Tory Party”.

Fresh allegations emerged as Pincher said he is seeking “professional medical support” and hopes to return to represent his constituents “as soon as possible”.

The Mail on Sunday alleged that he threatened to report a parliamentary researcher to her boss after she tried to stop his “lecherous” advances to a young man at a Conservative Party conference.

The Sunday Times alleged that he made unwanted passes at two Conservative MPs in 2017 and 2018 – after his first resignation as a whip.

A Tory MP told the Independent he was groped on two occasions by Pincher, first in December 2021 and again last month.

Boris Johnson was “not aware” of any “specific” allegations about Chris Pincher when he appointed him deputy chief whip, No.10 has said.

Pincher resigned from his government post maintaining discipline among Conservative MPs on Thursday evening.

He has been accused of sexually assaulting two male guests at the Carlton Club – a Tory Party private members’ club in London’s Piccadilly, but has been allowed to continue to sit as a Conservative MP.

Pincher said he had “embarrassed myself and other people” after having had “far too much” to drink.

According to Politico, Johnson was made aware of allegations about Pincher’s past behaviour before appointing him deputy chief whip at the last reshuffle in February.

But No.10 disputed the account. “The prime minister was not aware of any specific allegations before the appointment,” the PM’s spokesperson said on Friday.

“There was no basis to stop the appointment in the absence of any formal complaint.”

The spokesperson said Pincher could not be blocked from being given a job on the basis of “unsubstantiated allegations”.

It is the second time Pincher has quit the whips office. He resigned as a junior whip in November 2017 following a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at the former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story.

In his resignation letter to the prime minister yesterday, Pincher apologised for his behaviour, saying it had been “the honour of my life” to have served in the Government.

“Last night I drank far too much. I’ve embarrassed myself and other people which is the last thing I want to do and for that I apologise to you and to those concerned,” he said.

“I think the right thing to do in the circumstances is for me to resign as deputy chief whip. I owe it to you and the people I’ve caused upset to, to do this.

“I want to assure you that you will continue to have my full support from the back benches. It has been the honour of my life to have served in Her Majesty’s Government.”

The spokesperson said Johnson and Pincher had “exchanged messages” over the resignation but would not reveal what was said.