DEPUTY Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has repeatedly denied having knowledge of a Conservative Party cover-up over claims of rape.
He was commenting on allegations about former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry reporting a claim about an MP committing rape to police.
Dowden told GB News: “Well, all I can say to you is, as I’ve said, I didn’t sign off anything like that and I don’t recognise it myself…
“I don’t know who the person is because they haven’t been named and I’ve also said to you that in respect of both a cover up – I have zero knowledge of that, we would not have covered up at all, and I certainly didn’t sign off any kind of support in the way that has been described there.“
Asked by Camilla Tominey if the planned pro-Palestinian march in London on Armistice Day should go ahead, he said it was a matter for police.
“Maybe questions about that are for the longer term, but the law as it stands is that it is for the Met to make that judgement.
“You’ve seen both the comments of the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. I very strongly agree with that as well. I simply don’t think this is appropriate.
“We’ve made that clear, that position clear to the Metropolitan Police, but ultimately we have to respect the operational independence of the police. That’s how policing works in this country.”
Asked if it was right to refer to homelessness as a “lifestyle choice” like the Home Secretary, he said: “I agree with the sentiment of what the Home Secretary is saying, which is let’s make sure people aren’t on the street in the first place because we’ve dealt with the underlying causes of it.
“If people are still choosing to be on the streets, I think the Government should be able to take those powers as indeed we had under the Vagrancy Act previously.”
