Commons staff face sex attacks, bullying and abuse from MPs

A WIDESPREAD culture of bullying and sexual harassment by MPs against their staff was exposed in a bombshell report yesterday.

It found victims endured abuse ranging from inappropriate ‘banter’ to unwanted advances, groping and ‘very serious sexual assault’.

But despite the perpetrators being known, the allegations were often ignored or swept under the carpet.

The claims were compiled by Gemma White QC in the wake of the so- called ‘ Pestminster Scandal’. More than 200 office managers, parliamentary assistants, researchers, secretaries and interns detailed the appalling treatment.

One staff member said: ‘ With the job of parliamentary assistant or researcher you do become their bitch. It’s a bit like The Devil Wears Prada – you end up just doing personal stuff, no respect for hours, annual leave.’

Another said their MP would ‘intimidate, mock and undermine me every day, often shouting at me. On one occasion an MP stood directly over shouting at me for over ten minutes on end.’

Others reported ‘ relentless daily intimidation and bullying’ leaving them ‘ crying on the way to work, the only time I have cried since I was a child’. An MP was accused of ‘undermining and criticising’ their staff ‘until they broke down’. The MP was ‘like a cat playing with a mouse, disappointed when it dies’, it was claimed.

Staff also had to listen to MPs discussing ‘ intimate details’ about problems in their sex lives. And they faced ‘intrusive questioning’ about their own sex lives and relationships, the report found.

Half of the victims said their treatment left them ‘anxious, exhausted and ill’ and resulted in mental or physical illness. Many were forced to resign or were dismissed after taking time off to recover.

Miss White found that some of the worst offenders were ‘well known within the parliamentary community’ but action was ‘rarely’ taken to deal with behaviour ‘other than the odd ‘quiet word’ from an MP.

Whips, the MPs responsible for party discipline, were even accused of storing complaints to use against MPs at a later date, or ‘logging ammunition for future whipping’.

MPs also enforced ‘non-disclosure agreements’ to silence staff who quit their offices.

Politicians are given up to £166,000 a year to spend on Commons staff. But the report said MPs should have the money taken away if they refuse to sign up to new rules on employment practices, recruitment and discipline.

Shockingly, only 34 out of 650 MPs have attended training designed to educate them about the behaviour code.

The report concludes that a new complaints regime, set up last year, has had a ‘slow and shaky start’ and is ‘inadequate’. None of the MPs facing allegations are named in the report, nor are any of their victims.

Meanwhile, Speaker John Bercow and other MPs could face bullying probes within weeks – after ministers opened the door to the investigation of ‘historic’ allegations.

Currently, the authorities can only examine claims which took place after the 2017 general election.

But older complaints of bullying and harassment could now be addressed.

It could mean Mr Bercow facing an investigation over allegations from Angus Sinclair, his former private secretary, and another former employee, Kate Emms. Mr Bercow has always emphatically denied any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for the Speaker’s office said: ‘The Speaker welcomes the expansion of this scheme to include non-recent cases as another positive step towards changing the culture of Parliament.’

‘Shouted at me for ten minutes’