Politics latest news: Downing Street suggests Boris Johnson forgot about Pincher complaint 

Downing Street has suggested Boris Johnson forgot he was briefed about a formal complaint against Chris Pincher as No 10 rejected accusations it had lied about the scandal.

No 10 initially claimed on Friday that Mr Johnson had not been aware of any “specific allegations” against Mr Pincher at the time of the February reshuffle.

It then changed its position yesterday as it said the PM was aware of claims made against Mr Pincher before he was appointed to the role of deputy chief whip but they had either been “resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint”.

Downing Street today confirmed that Mr Johnson was briefed on a 2019 complaint made against Mr Pincher when he was a Foreign Office minister but the PM had initially failed to “recall” that he had been told about it.

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman stressed that the briefing was actually a “brief conversation that took place around three years ago”.

The spokesman also insisted that No 10 has always been truthful in its statements on the scandal after Lord McDonald, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, accused Downing Street of lying.