Watchdog outlines scale of sleaze probe
AROUND 15 MPs are expected to have been investigated by the independent watchdog that examines allegations of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct in the last year, it has emerged.
Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) wrote to MPs giving an “exceptional” preliminary update given the scale of interest in Westminster sleaze. The update comes amid the fallout from the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish.
Mr Parish – who unsuccessfully contested the Torfaen seat in 1997 before becoming MP for Tiverton and Devon in 2010 – announced on Saturday that he would be standing down after twice watching pornography in the Commons.
The ICGS message noted that there were 15 cases started against MPs between July 2020 and June 2021, adding: “We are seeing a similar trend in disclosure so far this year.”
The final figure will be published in the ICGS annual report in the coming months, but that alone does not detail how many parliamentarians have been complained about.
According to a Sunday Times report, three Cabinet ministers and two in the shadow cabinet are among 56 MPs to have been referred to the ICGS over about 70 separate complaints.
The last ICGS annual report states that of the 45 cases started in the previous year 15 were against MPs.
But there may well have been a higher number of complaints that did not lead to cases, with 113 people contacting the ICGS helpline about their experiences.
Some cases may carry over from previous years.
Resigning MP Mr Parish is expected
to face an ICGS investigation for viewing pornography in the Commons after a complaint from at least one Tory colleague.
The ICGS message to MPs read: “In the interests of transparency, I want to give as clear a picture as I can about current case rates, but I am doing this on an exceptional basis given the scale of speculation.
“I am not providing real-time data in order to protect individuals currently using the ICGS and we will not provide any further information outside our usual reporting mechanisms.”
The House of Commons declined to comment on the number of investigations.
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday denied there is a culture of misogyny in Parliament, instead pointing to a few “bad apples” despite a series of scandals over the behaviour of MPs.
The Cabinet minister insisted it is a safe place for women to work as he backed the resignation of Tory colleague Mr Parish.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is calling for “radical” reform to working practices after a string of bullying and sexual misconduct offences involving MPs.
They have triggered women working in Westminster to share accounts of their treatment, with Cabinet ministers describing men acting like “animals”.
Senior Conservative Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee, has accused the Tories of “institutional sexism”.
But Mr Kwarteng, speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, denied there is a culture of misogyny at the centre of British democracy.
“I don’t think there is a culture of misogyny; I think the problem we have is people are working in a really intense environment, there are long hours and I think generally most people know their limits,” he said.
He told the BBC’s Sunday Morning show that Parliament is a safe place for women to work, adding: “I think we’ve got to distinguish between some bad apples, people who behave badly, and the general environment.
“There are some bad apples, there are people who have acted very badly, and they should be held to account.”
The Sunday Times carried a report describing drunken and disorderly behaviour, including a senior MP accused of repeatedly licking the faces of researchers in parliamentary bars.
A minister being overheard frequently having “noisy sex” in his parliamentary office, an MP being warned over his use of prostitutes, and a female Tory being sent a “dick pic” by a colleague were also detailed.
Mr Kwarteng accepted that the allegations were “extraordinary and unacceptable” but ruled out closing Parliament’s many bars to tackle the sleaze.
“No, they shouldn’t all be shut, I don’t think we should have an excessively puritanical, severe regime in that regard,” he told Ridge.
Senior Tories have been pushing to get more women MPs, but Mr Kwarteng said he is not “a fan of quotas” to boost their numbers.
Calling for urgent action, Sir Lindsay suggested staff should no longer be employed by the parliamentarians they work for to address a series of “serious allegations”.
He said he is considering an outside body employing aides as he moved to establish a “Speaker’s conference” bringing MPs together to discuss an overhaul.
His bid for change was echoed by former Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, who in 2018 spearheaded the creation of the ICGS, which looks into allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.
“Things haven’t changed and that’s because there aren’t enough cases coming through and it’s taking too long for investigations to come to an end,” she told the Sunday Times.
“It’s only when you see people getting done for being blind drunk and subject to the appropriate sanctions that people will start to think twice about their behaviour.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he will participate in the Speaker’s bid, and called for “political leadership” from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fix the problem “because the fish rots from the head”.
Cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan this week described once being “pinned up against a wall” by a former MP, while colleague Suella Braverman said some men act like “animals”.
On Saturday, Mr Parish announced his resignation as MP for Tiverton and Honiton after two colleagues reported having seen him watching porn.
The farmer by trade, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, said he first accidentally viewed porn in the Commons chamber after looking at tractors online, before later doing so deliberately.
In the 1997 General Election, he contested the Torfaen seat – which includes the communities of Cwmbran, Pontypool and Blaenavon – winning just 5,327 votes to Labour’s 29,863.
He went on to be elected to the European Parliament in 1999, representing the South West of England and Gibraltar region.
Mr Parish did not stand for reelection in 2009 having already been selected as the Conservative candidate for Tiverton and Honiton at the 2010 General Election.
His departure will pave the way for a by-election in the Tory safe seat and he still faces an investigation by the ICGS.
It was the latest in a series of damning developments that have dogged the Commons in recent weeks.
Senior Labour MP Liam Byrne is set to be suspended from the Commons for two days for bullying a member of staff.
David Warburton had the Conservative whip withdrawn after allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use emerged.
Former Tory Imran Ahmad Khan resigned after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.