British prime minister Boris Johnson is under increasing pressure to take immediate disciplinary action against the Conservative MP accused of watching pornography in the House of Commons.
The chief whip issued a statement on Wednesday suggesting the matter should be referred to parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), which deals with sexual harassment and other disciplinary matters. But senior Tories questioned why he had not taken action directly against the MP, whose alleged behaviour was witnessed by two female colleagues in recent months.
One cabinet minister described the situation as “madness all round”, while Caroline Nokes, the chair of the women and equalities committee, said: “I hope the chief withdraws the whip. In any other workplace they would be on gardening leave.”
Chris Heaton-Harris, the chief whip, was present at a meeting of the “2022 committee” – a group of Tory women – earlier this week when a series of incidents, including the MP watching pornography, were described.
On Thursday, Labour leader Keir Starmer called on Mr Johnson to bypass the potentially lengthy ICGS process, and discipline the MP directly. “This is an unusual case because the Tory party knows who this individual is. I think that they should deal with it, and deal with it sooner rather than later.”
Scrutiny
Misogyny and sexism in parliament have come under close scrutiny in recent days after a widely criticised Mail on Sunday story claimed Tory MPs believed Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, crossed and uncrossed her legs to distract Mr Johnson at prime minister’s questions. Reports followed that 56 MPs, including three cabinet ministers, are facing allegations of sexual misconduct referred to the ICGS.
Asked whether the MP accused of watching pornography should lose the whip, Mr Johnson insisted on Thursday that the case should be investigated independently.
It was “obviously unacceptable for anybody to be doing that kind of thing in the workplace” but “what needs to happen now is that the proper procedures need to be gone through,” Mr Johnson said.
A spokesperson for the whips’ office said: “This is the best way of handling this, because they can look at everything fairly, independently. This is the best process that we could have in place to deal with this matter.”
Animals
At least five cabinet ministers have expressed alarm privately or publicly about the reports. Earlier in the day, the attorney general, Suella Braverman, said some MPs behaved like “animals”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour there was a “very small minority of men – and it is men – who fall short and there are some bad apples who are out of order – who behave like animals, and are bringing parliament into disrepute to be honest”.
On Thursday the BBC reported that a female Welsh MP had accused an unnamed member of the Labour frontbench of saying she would be successful because men wanted to sleep with her. Labour promised to launch an investigation if a complaint was made. But the MP told BBC Wales that identifying herself and making a complaint was not in her best interests. – Guardian/PA