Parliament staff 'draw up warning list of sex pest MPs'
Staff working in Parliament are said to have written up and circulated a list of MPs they say have behaved inappropriately, in a bid to warn others.
It comes after Tory MP Neil Parish resigned yesterday having admitted watching porn in the House of Commons in a ‘moment of madness’.
He claimed the first time this happened he had been trying to visit a website about tractors, but said the second time was intentional.
The Sun reported today that ‘at least 25 serial offenders’ have been identified, with people warned about being alone with them.
Women working in Parliament have discussed the issue on a Whatsapp group, the paper said.
One claim is from a female MP who said a male MP pointed at the fabric tying her wrap dress and asked her ‘What happens if I undo this?’
A female aide also said she wore knee-high boots to work and claimed her MP then suggested she could be ‘kinky’.
The SNP’s Anum Qaisar, who was elected as MP for Airdrie and Shotts in May 2021, said she was told by opposition MPs which men to avoid in Parliament.
She told Sky News: ‘Despite the fact we have this horrific, toxic culture in Westminster, it’s women looking after women.
‘Since I joined Parliament, I’ve been taken aside by female MPs to warn me about some male MPs who say “Actually, Anum, you’re probably better off staying away from X, Y and Z”.
She added that there is a culture in Westminster where the men accused of these actions only quit when they are threatened with being thrown out of Parliament.
‘In Westminster, we have this culture where we have late-night votes, a high-pressure environment and numerous bars in the Parliamentary estate,’ she said.
‘All those factors can enable men, usually those elected or in high office, to become predatory.’
The Sunday Times carried a report describing drunken and disorderly behaviour, including a senior MP accused of repeatedly licking the faces of researchers in parliamentary bars.
A minister being overheard frequently having ‘noisy sex’ in his parliamentary office, an MP being warned over his use of prostitutes, and a female Tory being sent a ‘dick pic’ by a colleague were also detailed.
It comes as 15 male MPs have been referred to a parliamentary watchdog over misconduct allegations.
Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has denied there is a culture of misogyny in Parliament, instead pointing to a few ‘bad apples’.
He accepted that the allegations were ‘extraordinary and unacceptable’ but ruled out closing Parliament’s many bars to tackle the issue.
‘No, they shouldn’t all be shut, I don’t think we should have an excessively puritanical, severe regime in that regard,’ he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge.
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