Tory MP Julian Knight has vehemently denied any wrongdoing after the party withdrew the whip following a complaint about him to the Metropolitan Police, saying he had been the target of unfounded rumors and potentially blackmail.
The MP for Solihull in the West Midlands, who chairs the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, lost the whip after a complaint was made about him on Wednesday.
A spokesman for Simon Hart, the chief whip, said: “Following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police this evening, we have withdrawn the whip from MP Julian Knight with immediate effect.”
In a series of tweets Thursday morning, Knight said he had not been given any information about what the complaint was about. “I have not heard from the police, the leak office or parliament’s internal complaints service, nor have I been the subject of an investigation by the latter. I have not been notified by the Whips office nor has he ever spoken to me about any allegations of misconduct,” Knight wrote.
“I think his withdrawal of the whip is wrong and unjustified.
“I have received what my lawyers advise are explicit threats involving blackmail, as well as being at the center of a campaign of rumors and innuendo. All matters are now with my lawyers and I will stand down from parliament until the matter is resolved.”
Knight, who has been an MP since 2015, did not elaborate. Neither the police nor the Conservative Party have said what the complaint is about.
