Tory MP ‘watched porn in House of Commons’
■Female colleagues say they caught him not once but TWICE ■Chief whip leads probe amid calls for guilty party to quit
PARTY whips are probing claims that a tory MP watched porn on his mobile phone in the House of commons chamber.
two female MPs say they witnessed their colleague looking at adult images more than once.
chris Heaton-Harris, the tory chief whip, launched an investigation into the ‘wholly unacceptable’ allegations yesterday, with his team vowing to take action. Furious female tory MPs have demanded that their male colleague quit.
the claims about the MP, who has not been named and is not believed to be a minister, were aired during a meeting of backbench tories. one female MP told the meeting on tuesday they had sat behind the man on the commons benches and seen him look at porn on his phone.
Another said she had seen the same MP looking at porn both in the chamber and in a committee hearing room.
tuesday’s meeting is understood to have been attended by between 40 and 50 tory MPs, including Mr Heaton-Harris, party co-chairman oliver dowden and commons leader Mark Spencer.
theresa May attended the meeting but was understood not to have been present when the porn allegations were made.
one attendee said: ‘We were having a discussion about being a woman in politics, particularly a woman in the governing party. then a colleague dropped this bombshell. they said they had seen a male tory MP watching porn on his phone a few weeks ago.
‘they said they were sat in the rows behind him. then another colleague said that they had seen the same person watching porn in the chamber and at a committee hearing. it wasn’t what any of us were expecting.
‘it certainly wasn’t what the chief whip was expecting. the chief was shocked and concerned. He said he wanted to speak to the MP who had watched the porn. He said he would be investigating.’
the tory MP added of the claims: ‘this shows a basic contempt and disrespect for parliament – and your colleagues.’
Another female MP said at the meeting that when she wore a leather skirt she was asked: ‘What do you do for your day job?’
A second said a whip ushered MPs into a voting lobby recently by saying ‘come on, girls!’
An MP was said to be left in tears by the allegations, according to one report, though others in the room could not verify this. the committee – known as ‘the 2022’ – is a forum for tory backbenchers to discuss ideas and policy.
tory MP Pauline Latham demanded the man responsible resign, telling GB news: ‘they should go. that will mean their ministerial career is absolutely shot and their parliamentary career probably. it’s just not excusable in any way. it’s totally shocking.’
the MP for Mid derbyshire called for a culture change, adding: ‘there’s no place for it in any workplace. in parliament, we are supposed to be leaders, and we should be setting a really good example.’
northern ireland minister conor Burns told BBC Politics Live: ‘i’m not going to even attempt to defend it. if the facts are established then action should be taken decisively.’
Asked about the claim, tory MP Brendan clarke-Smith told the same programme it was hard to even get a signal in the chamber, adding: ‘it’s unacceptable in any workplace really.
‘i don’t think it’s necessarily unique to the House of commons. if someone has done that then quite rightly i would expect there to be consequences.’
Last night a spokesman for the conservative chief whip said the matter would be referred to parliament’s independent complaints and grievance scheme.
the porn claims came amid reports that 56 MPs, including three cabinet ministers, are facing allegations of sexual misconduct that are also being referred to the complaints scheme.
the Prime Minister’s press secretary said: ‘You will have heard the PM address this explicitly in parliament today and over the last few days, saying there is absolutely no place for such behaviour and this cannot be tolerated.’
Asked whether watching pornography at work was a sackable offence, she said: ‘i am not aware of the disciplinary action. obviously, it is wholly unacceptable behaviour and it is being looked into.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded the MP alleged to have watched porn is kicked out.
in december 2017 damian Green was sacked as de facto deputy prime minister for lying about claims that police found pornography on a computer in his office.
‘It’s just not excusable’