A former Conservative MP said a government whip threatened to pull funding for a major link road around Bath if he rebelled against a Brexit vote.
Ben Howlett, MP for Bath from 2015-2017, revealed the incident following senior Tory William Wragg telling the Commons he has been told of claims MPs who want Boris Johnson ousted have been intimidated and even blackmailed by the whips.
Mr Howlett told Sky News: “I was campaigning as a marginal constituency MP for a project, it was a link road and people remember that in my constituency I was trying to get government funding for it and of course during the Brexit rebellions.
“The whipping operation involved me being told by a whip that if I ended up rebelling and continuing to rebel then I would lose out funding for that particular scheme, which was frankly outrageous at the time.”
He claimed the road would have reduced pollution and congestion in central Bath, where some areas have nitrogen dioxide levels above safe limits.
Read more: Pork pie plotters consider releasing recording of ‘heated’ exchange with chief whip
Underhand tactics from whips ‘been going on for years’
Mr Howlett said he was a new MP at the time but had the support of some senior Tories which meant he received some helpful advice on how to deal with threats from whips.
He added: “The advice I received at the time is ‘nonsense, whips can’t do that’ and I was very good friends with the transport minister at the time so I could easily speak to the transport minister and say ‘look this is what has happened’ and of course, they allayed any fears.”
The former MP said those types of tactics “have been going on for years” so he is “surprised” the government is dismissing claims from current MPs…
Source : skynews
