The Tory MP who is being investigated for allegedly watching pornography in the Commons chamber has been named and suspended from the Tory party.
MP Neil Parish had the Tory whip withdrawn on Friday (April 29) pending the result of the investigation after a conversation with Tory Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris. An investigation by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was launched after the allegations surfaced during a meeting of Tory MPs on Tuesday.
Tiverton and Honiton MP Mr Parish has represented the Devon constituency since 2019. He was also the chair of the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
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A spokeswoman for Mr Heaton-Harris said: “Having spoken to the Chief Whip this afternoon, Neil Parish MP is reporting himself to the Standards Committee of the House of Commons. Mr Parish has been suspended from the Conservative whip pending the outcome of that investigation.”
The news comes at the end of a shocking week in Parliament, which was rocked by renewed accusations of misogyny and sexual misconduct. A female Cabinet minister revealed she was once “pinned up against a wall” by a male MP as she told colleagues to “keep your hands in your pockets."
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told LBC Radio: “These sorts of things, these power abuses, that a very small minority, thank goodness, of male colleagues show is completely unacceptable”.
Meanwhile Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, was at the centre of a sexist Daily Mail article based on claims made by an unknown male Tory MP. The story crudely suggested she had been trying to distract Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the House of Commons.
