Westminster safeguards to be introduced by PM
THERESA May, Jeremy Corbyn and other party leaders have agreed to introduce new safeguards for parliamentary staff as Westminster continues to be plagued by sleaze allegations.
The Prime Minister said party leaders and senior MPs, including the DUP’s Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, agreed at a meeting in Parliament to introduce a new grievance procedure and upgrade an existing complaints hotline to a face-toface human resources service.
The latter will be introduced by the end of the month and the new grievance procedure should be in place by next year, Mrs May told reporters.
Speaking after the meeting in her parliamentary office, Mrs May said: “Sadly, over recent days, we have seen a number of allegations about figures from across the political parties and it’s important that those are investigated impartially and some have rightly been referred to the police.
“I think if this hasn’t happened to you it’s difficult to appreciate the impact that being a victim of this sort of behaviour can have, it simply has a lasting impact on people.
“And we need to do more to stop these abuses of power and I’m pleased that having convened this meeting of party leaders today we have agreed a way forward.
“We are going to ensure that there’s an upgrade to the existing phone line for staff so that staff in future will be able to get face-to-
face HR support and for that to be in place by the end of the month.
“And we’ve also agreed that we need a completely new grievance procedure for staff working here, for everybody working here, and that should come into effect in the New Year.
“So I think an important step forward has been taken today. It’s important that we get this right, and I’m sorry that we have seen these abuses of power — too many taking place over too many years. And the fact that they have taken place here at our seat of democracy should be a matter of shame for us all.”
Mrs May was also asked to “categorically” state that she knew nothing about any allegations that came to the fore following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
She replied: “The allegations that have come to the fore in the last week I have been made aware of over that time period because of things that have appeared in the press but also allegations that I’ve been told over the last week in private.”
Mrs May’s de facto deputy Damian Green was being interviewed yesterday as part of a Cabinet Office investigation which has been expanded to include claims that pornography was found on one of his parliamentary computers in 2008.
The First Secretary of State has strongly denied the claims.
Before the meeting, Mr Corbyn had called for MPs to undergo training after each general election in employment standards and management of their offices.