May goes to war on the sex pests of Westminster
Theresa May issued a stern warning to her ministers over sexual harassment, warning that any inappropriate behaviour would be severely punished.
she unveiled a new code of conduct yesterday – revamped in the wake of the so-called ‘Pestminster’ scandal – which made clear that future misconduct ‘will not be tolerated’.
at a meeting of her new Cabinet in Downing street, Mrs May made it clear she expected ministers to both read the code and order their junior ministers to read it, the Mail understands.
It came as a survey by the BBC found that sexual harassment and bullying is ‘rife’ within Parliament. according to the study of staff who recently worked for MPs, four women said they had been the victims of sexual assault, while 18 women and one man said they had suffered sexual harassment.
Mrs May’s intervention follows weeks of damaging revelations and claims about the prevalence of bullying and sexual harassment at Westminster. The sex-pest scandal has claimed the scalps of two of the Prime Minister’s closest Cabinet allies, former first secretary of state Damian Green and former defence secretary sir Michael Fallon.
The alleged conduct of some MPs has angered Mrs May, who is said to have asked her aides: ‘Why can’t they just get on with their jobs?’
The Prime Minister has already introduced a new code of conduct for all Tory staff, MPs and councillors setting out ‘minimum standards of behaviour’. The update to the code, which was last revised in December 2016, also includes new rules relating to ministerial meetings with foreign governments, following the sacking of Priti Patel as international development secre- tary. she was forced to resign in November after failing to report meetings with Israeli government officials during a private holiday.
On harassment, the code says ministers should be ‘professional in all their dealings and treat all those with whom they come into contact with consideration and respect’.
It says all working relationships with civil servants, MPs and parliamentary staff should be ‘ proper and appropriate’ and adds: ‘ Ministers of the Crown are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety.
‘harassing, bullying or other inappropriate or discriminati ng behaviour wherever it takes place is not consistent with the Ministerial Code and will not be tolerated.’
But the new code was dis- missed as a ‘missed opportunity’ by a union representing civil servants.
The FDa union complained that there was no detail on what sanctions ministers could face if found to have committed i nappropriate behaviour and who would investigate allegations.
assistant general secretary Naomi Cooke said: ‘ This behind-closed-doors tinkering with the Ministerial Code will do nothing to reassure civil servants that there’s a proper system in place to protect them from harassment and bullying.’
she claimed there was ‘a crisis of confidence’ among civil servants over the way bullying complaints are handled, with just 14 per cent saying in a r ecent survey t hat t hey were confident that a complaint against a minister or adviser would be properly investigated.
The ministerial code of conduct was introduced in 1992 by the then Conservative Prime Minister John Major and has gone through several updates, often in response to scandals.
‘Maintain high standards’