(Bloomberg) --

A U.K. Conservative lawmaker accused Boris Johnson’s parliamentary fixers of “intimidation” and “blackmail” as they tried to fend off a challenge to the prime minister’s leadership, and urged members of Parliament to report the matter to the police.

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“In recent days a number of MPs have faced pressures and intimidation from members of the government because of their declared or assumed desire for a vote of confidence in the party leadership of the prime minister,” William Wragg, who chairs Parliament’s influential Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said at a hearing on Thursday.

Wragg, who has previously called for the prime minister to resign, also said Johnson’s whips had threatened to withdraw taxpayer funding from areas represented by rebel MPs. 

“The intimidation of a member of Parliament is a serious matter,” Wragg said. “Moreover reports of which I’m aware would seem to constitute blackmail.”

 

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