Chief Whip ‘failed to act in Tory MP rape case’
Former minister’s accuser claims she raised allegations with party four months ago
Harry Yorke and Gordon Rayner THE Government’s Chief Whip was last night accused of failing to act for four months on complaints against a former minister who was arrested over a suspected rape at the weekend.
Mark Spencer was under mounting pressure to explain why he failed to launch an inquiry into alleged behaviour by the senior Conservative, who has not been suspended by the party.
The MP, who has not been publicly identified, was arrested on Saturday after a woman in her 20s made a complaint of rape and sexual assault, before being bailed later that evening until a date in mid-august.
The Daily Telegraph has established that the woman – who was working as a parliamentary aide – made a complaint to Mr Spencer on April 1, but says she became frustrated when nothing was done and sought a second meeting with him, which she says he declined.
She also alleges that she told Mr Spencer – the man in charge of party discipline – that the MP threatened to ruin her career if she spoke to anyone, but that he reassured her that the MP in question would not carry out his threat.
The woman took her complaints to police late last week.
Mr Spencer has insisted that anyone who makes allegations of harassment or abuse is “strongly encouraged” by him to report the matter to “the appropriate authorities” and he disputes elements of the woman’s version of her contact with him. Mr Spencer denies that the woman made any allegations of a sexual nature in his conversation with her.
However his lack of action angered some female MPS in his own party, who have questioned why he failed to investigate, why he did not advise the woman to tell police, and why he has not removed the whip from the MP.
A former minister told The Telegraph: “I’m surprised the whip hasn’t been removed considering what happened to Charlie Elphicke ... I think the chief has a lot to answer for.”
A second former Tory minister said: “It’s just hugely disappointing to yet again find these allegations ... it’s a young woman who should not have ever been put in that position and should have clear mechanisms by which to address the allegations.”
Claire Waxman, the Victims’ Commissioner for London, pointed to Boris Johnson’s Twitter post last year, in which he wrote: “Women must have the confidence that crimes, domestic violence and sexual abuse, are treated seriously”. She said: “Not suspending an MP accused of rape while investigations are ongoing conveys a different message.”
The news comes just days after Elphicke, a former Tory whip, was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women, in 2007 and 2016.
Last month, the Conservative Party was criticised for not withdrawing the whip from Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn, after he sent inappropriate messages to two junior staff. Mr Roberts has apologised and the party is investigating.
In contrast Julian Lewis had the whip withdrawn for standing for the post of chairman of the Commons intelligence and security committee against party orders.
Allegations concerning the MP arrested on Saturday began to reach fellow MPS’ ears in February, the month after the most recent of the alleged sexual assaults.
Asked if Mr Johnson retained confidence in Mr Spencer, Downing Street said the Prime Minister had “confi- dence in his entire Cabinet” but refused to say when Mr Johnson first became aware of the allegations.
Yesterday, Scotland Yard confirmed it had received allegations relating to four separate incidents involving sexual offences and assault, said to have occurred in Westminster, Lambeth and Hackney between July 2019 and January 2020. The complainant has claimed one of the alleged assaults left her needing hospital treatment.
The Telegraph has established that Mr Spencer spoke to the woman on April 1, when she says she told him about “sexual abuse” she allegedly suffered at the hands of the MP. She also
claims to have told Mr Spencer the MP had made further threats against her if she spoke to anyone about it.
In an anonymous newspaper interview last month, the woman claimed Mr Spencer “didn’t seem interested in the details of the allegations but spent most of the time saying I shouldn’t worry about the threats”.
She added that his response appeared to be: “Well don’t worry, because the MP won’t actually carry out those threats.” She added: “He never suggested I should go to the police. In fact I asked him when he would withdraw the whip, he first said when he had a police report, then changed it to a charge, then he said ultimately he’d need a conviction. I felt like he did not take me seriously or recognise the severity of what had happened.”
The woman says Mr Spencer did not advise her to contact police, which he does not dispute. Mr Spencer has told friends the woman said she intended to take the matter to Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.
Multiple sources have told The Telegraph the woman attempted to speak to Mr Spencer a second time, but was instead contacted by his special adviser, who directed her towards the scheme.
Increasingly frustrated with him, she contacted a backbench Conservative MP in late June, who raised her complaint with Jacob Rees-mogg, the House of Commons leader, in mid-july.
Mr Rees-mogg is understood to have advised that the woman report her allegations to the police. He also notified the Whips’ Office of the complaint.
Mr Rees-mogg had also been told about the allegations by a friend of the woman during a meeting to discuss parliamentary grievance procedures on June 22, though he was not at that point told the identity of the MP. Again, he said the matter should be referred to the police. A government source said last night that Mr Rees-mogg found the claims “extremely distressing” and later contacted the Government Whips’ Office to notify them of the complaint. He was unavailable for comment last night.
When an interview with the woman appeared in The Times on July 27, friends of Mr Spencer told the newspaper she had not mentioned allegations of sexual assault. She reacted angrily to the suggestion, telling friends at the time she had reported allegations of “sexual abuse” to him. Four days later, she reported them to the police. She is also said to be angered at the decision not to suspend the whip from the MP.
Concerns raised by senior female Tory MPS about the Chief Whip’s decision not to suspend the whip from their colleague were last night echoed by Jess Phillips, Labour’s shadow safeguarding minister, who said the refusal to take action at once was “shocking”.
Separately, the chair of the MP’S association, told the Daily Mail: “[The MP] has made us aware of allegations made against him. He denies these totally. And this association gives him our one hundred per cent support.”
A Conservative party spokesman said: “These are serious allegations and it is right that they are investigated fully. The whip has not been suspended...this decision will be reviewed once the police investigation has been concluded.”
Party sources said the decision not to suspend the whip was taken for fear that the MP could then be identified before the allegations had been assessed by the police.