Boris Johnson under pressure over MP accused of watching pornography
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 recommending that the matter be referred to the 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 behaviour was seen by two female colleagues in recent months.
The MP's identity is known to party whips, but sources denied that he was a whip.
One cabinet minister described the situation as madness all round while Caroline Nokes, 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 committee on the 2022 issue of Tory women earlier this week when a series of incidents including MP watching pornography were described.
On Thursday, Labour leader Keir Starmer called for Johnson to bypass the potentially lengthy ICGS process and discipline the MP directly. This is unusual because of the fact that the Tory party knows who this individual is. I think they should deal with it and deal with it sooner rather than later. They know who this is. He said that they should take action now.
After being criticised by Mail on Sunday, sexism and misogyny in parliament have come under close scrutiny after a widely criticised Mail on Sunday story claimed that Tory MPs believed Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner crossed and uncrossed her legs to distract Johnson at prime minister's questions.
Asked whether the MP accused of watching pornography should lose the whip, the prime minister said on Thursday that the case should be investigated independently. It was obviously unacceptable for anyone 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, the independent complaints and grievances procedure needs to be activated and we need to understand the facts, Johnson said.
A spokesman 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 we have in place to deal with this matter. At least five cabinet ministers have expressed concern privately or publicly about the reports. Earlier in the day, the attorney general, Suella Braverman, said some MPs behaved like animals and talked about a coarsening of behaviour in parliament and elsewhere.
It's something that happens in many, if not all workplaces, where a minority of men and it is men are behaved in an unacceptable way, she told BBC Radio 4 s Woman's Hour.
I think that is a more worrying symptom of our society and our culture. How have we got to a place in our society where pornography on the tube, in public, in front of children, in the workplace, in the workplace has become normalised for some people? Nadine Dorries, Culture Secretary, told the BBC: I think it is getting worse for female MPs. I always thought that if you get more women in things, things will get better, but I don't see that happening at the moment. I think we need to have a majority of women. It is just disappointing. There have been several instances of inappropriate and sexist behaviour recently in Parliament, said Sajid Javid, health secretary. It is shameful. Parliamentarians are public servants and it is their duty to set an example of character and integrity.