International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan
(Picture: PA Wire)MPs who “abuse their power” to sexually assault women or bully staff need to know they will face “proper punishment”, a cabinet minister said on Tuesday.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said victims should not have to worry about whether their job could be put in jeopardy if they come forward to report abuse.
It follows a slew of Government misconduct cases, including MP Neil Parish admitting he had watched pornography in the Commons chamber and Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan resigning after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Dozens of MPs are also believed to be facing sexual misconduct claims.
Ms Trevelyan said she believes things can change in Parliament and that work had already begun through the recently set up Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).
She told BBC Breakfast: “What we have to do is grow the confidence in this new organisation.
“The work that Andrea Leadsom and others did to bring that through, it’s really important. We have to build the confidence of young women.”
She added: “These new systems that we have in place ensure that young men and women who are suffering from what is an abuse of power, by the very small minority of men in Parliament who are thinking they can get away with this stuff, we need to make sure that the punishment becomes a real deterrent, so that those young people who are suffering from this bad behaviour know that stepping up and being being brave enough to say ‘this happened to me’ will not in any way jeopardise their job.”
She never reported the incident, but said the MP was no longer in the House.
