Police called in to investigate rape claim at the Commons

CONCERNS about claims of sexual harassment and bullying at the House of Commons grew last night with the revelation that a rape accusation was made to police.

Scotland Yard confirmed last night that a Commons worker claimed to have been assaulted on the parliamentary estate.

It is understood that the allegation – made in the 12 months up to March 31 this year, but potentially relating to an earlier incident – involved an alleged attack on a member of an MP’s staff.

The accusation, reported to Scotland Yard by a force outside London, was reviewed by officers but did not lead to a formal investigation as there were ‘insufficient grounds’ to do so, sources said.

Jenny Symmons, chairman of the GMB union branch for MPs’ staff, said: ‘We are horrified to hear another rape has been reported on the parliamentary estate.’

She added that the lack of a full police investigation did not give ‘reassurance that this case or victim has been dealt with fully’. The allegation comes as a Tory MP ruled by a family court judge to have been raped and abused by her former Government Minister husband told The Mail on Sunday of her decision to reveal her trauma.

In a judgment released last week after Kate Griffiths waived her anonymity, former-Small Business Minister Andrew Griffiths was found to have raped her during an eight-year campaign of abusive behaviour. He denies the claims.

Ms Griffiths, who divorced her husband and succeeded him as Tory MP for Burton-upon-Trent, said she would have been ‘failing every victim of abuse who placed their trust in me if I hadn’t take the opportunity to support publication of this judgment’.