Tory MPs told to keep quiet on Partygate inquiry as Boris Johnson ‘calls in lawyers’

Chief whip tries to draw line under row over probe dubbed ‘witch hunt’ by Nadine Dorries

The government’s chief whip has warned Tory MPs to keep quiet about the inquiry examining whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate.

It comes as the caretaker prime minister is said to be consulting with lawyers on the best way to handle the Commons privileges committee probe set to begin in the autumn.

Johnson ally Nadine Dorries has been accused of waging a “terrorist campaign” to discredit the inquiry, after she urged Tory MPs on the cross-party committee to quit the “witch hunt”.