Young aides ‘suffer sex harassment from MPs’
LURID allegations of sexual harassment, drinking sessions and abuse of power in the House of Commons cast a new shadow over the reputation of MPs last night.
Dozens of young political aides have claimed to be on the receiving end of unwanted advances from older men.
A small group of MPs is said to have regularly become drunk and made passes at male researchers in particular.
The toxic claims were made by Channel 4 News in an investigation named The Palace of Sexminster.
One woman researcher told the investigation: ‘I watched men coming on to men, and men hiring men that they wanted to sleep with. I saw male MPs and researchers having relationships.
‘When I was there, older men would explore their sexuality and be predatory to younger men.’
The claims came at the end of a
‘Part of culture of
Westminster’
week when the Maria Miller expenses affair has again called into question the integrity of MPs.
As the allegations emerged, the Tories announced they were implementing a new code of conduct and a grievance procedure for MPs and their office staff.
It acts as a ‘basic statement of what should be best practice in the workplace for Conservative Members and their staff ’, a spokesman said.
Commons Speaker John Bercow has also set up a helpline for staff of MPs from all parties.
The Channel 4 investigation was screened last night to coincide with the end of the trial of Nigel Evans.
The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons was cleared of all nine charges of rape and sexual assault, but Preston Crown Court heard about a boozy Westminster culture often i nvolving younger members of staff.
In the investigation by Firecrest Films, a third of 70 researchers from all political parties with different sexual orientations said they had been subject to harassment. Nearly a quarter said that they had witnessed someone else being sexually harassed, or that a friend had confided in them.
One said: ‘ At an event for young political activists I was asked to go to the gents by an MP who had always been a nice guy. I just brushed it off.
‘The MP suggested I go to the toilets with him at 1am, but at 3am I saw him going back to his hotel room with a guy who looked about 18.’
Another said: ‘He invited the office to a gay bar and came up to me and put his arm around my shoulder. Then one time he slid his hand right down my back, and I moved it away.’
The investigation revealed that young men are more likely to get harassed than women. Some 40 per cent of men spoken to said they had received unwanted sexual advances.
Westminster’s sexual harassment culture came under intense scrutiny last year after the Lord Rennard affair. The senior Liberal Democrat was accused of making unwelcome advances to women party activists.
The row led to a police inquiry and an internal probe into how the party treats women – which remains unresolved.
Gay rights campaigner Ben Summerskill said: ‘Sexual harassment is part of the culture of Westminster. In the last decade I’ve heard of dozens of cases from men and women.
‘People are vulnerable as they’re often political obsessives and have never worked anywhere else. For both sexes the MP can say that if they oblige them, it might help their career enormously. There’s no HR [human resources], no structure for people management or supervision.’
Mr Bercow said that Parliament was an ‘extraordinary place in which to work’ and that the Commons ‘strives to be an exemplar of good employment practice’.
‘I am pleased that a helpline for staff is going to be established, as a safety net designed to complement existing pastoral care,’ he added. Channel 4 News claimed one Conservative MP recently expressed the view that those who believe themselves to be victims of unwanted sexual advances should toughen up – or as the MP put it: ‘Grow a pair.’