Tory chairman 'refuses to quit' over P45 prankster security breach
2 min read
Conservative chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin has rejected calls to quit after a major security breach at the Conservative party conference, a new report has said.
Prankster Simon Brodkin got within feet of the Prime Minister ten minutes into her keynote address to Tory delegates, waving a P45 form in front of her and joking that "Boris told me give you this".
Senior Conservatives have since called on Sir Patrick to take public responsibility, with one Tory saying he had completely “f***ed up”.
But Sir Patrick last night reportedly refused to take the blame for the security breach - instead accusing Mrs May's security services of failure.
A source close to the Tory bigwig told The Sun: “It’s not Patrick’s fault, why should he go? It’s the security arrangements that fell short."
The source added: “You’ve got to ask how someone was able to stand there for so long next to the most powerful people in the country and no one did anything.”
An unnamed Cabinet minister told the paper: “The pressure will be on the party chairman - conference was a shambles. He definitely has to go.”
Another senior minister said: “He should have gone in June but was instead let to balls up conference.”
One backbencher said: “Patrick is a Filofax chairman. We need a Facebook chairman.
“He should have resigned the day after the disastrous election night. He should now be sacked.
“Everyone likes Patrick but he has completely f***ed up. The word is that he tried to resign after the election but she got him to stay on.”
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