‘Parliament is safe for women to work’
ENERGY Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has 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 Neil Parish for twice watching pornography in the Commons.
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 an explicit picture 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.