Boris Johnson drops investigation into Tory MP over Greenpeace protest

Mark Field manhandled a climate protester out of a banquet. Picture: PA Wire. - Credit: BBC

Boris Johnson has scrapped a Whitehall investigation into Tory MP Mark Field’s clash with a climate change protester because he felt it should have been resolved by Theresa May.

Field was suspended as a foreign office minister by Theresa May after he manhandled Greenpeace activist Janet Barker at a high-profile dinner.

A Cabinet Office probe was set to look into whether he breached the ministerial code after the MP referred himself for investigation.

But now as he has lost his job as a minister Boris Johnson has scrapped the probe.

A Number 10 source said Johnson believed the incident should have been dealt with by May while she was still in office.

“Mark Field has now left the government,” the source said.

“The current PM considers this issue was a matter for the previous PM concerning his conduct during his time as a minister under her appointment.”

The Cities of London and Westminster MP was a prominent supporter of Johnson’s leadership rival Jeremy Hunt and it is no surprise he was sacked when the new prime minister appointed his government.

Field clashed with Barker as Greenpeace protesters disrupted the black-tie Mansion House event in the City of London.

At the time of the incident in June, Barker said she had been left “shaken up” after Field grabbed her by the neck and marched her out of the room as Greenpeace staged a peaceful protest.

“I was armed with peer reviewed science – the message that we were giving out. That’s all I was armed with,” she said.

She chose not to complain to the police.

Labour’s Louise Haigh said: “Never mind not being fit for a job in government, Mark Field isn’t fit to be an MP.

“Having previously failed to condemn his actions, this is a test of Boris Johnson’s attitude towards women. He should kick him out of the Conservative party immediately.”