UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
- Senior Tories have said the MP alleged to have watched porn in the Commons should be expelled if found guilty.
- Allegations surfaced Tuesday night during a parliamentary meeting, prompting an investigation.
- Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said it was “wholly unacceptable and action will be taken.”
The Conservative MP accused of watching watched porn on his phone in the House of Commons in view of a female minister should be expelled from the party as a “minimum,” senior Tories have said.
The claims, which surfaced at a meeting of Conservative parliamentarians Tuesday night, have been referred to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said the chief whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, would take “appropriate action” after the probe has concluded.
According to both The Mirror and The Sun, the unnamed man was seen watching porn on his phone while sitting in the chamber.
After the female minister’s accusation, there was a “blood-letting” of stories about other incidents about the man, the Mirror reported.
One MP who attended the meeting told Insider it was “quite the moment.”
Nicky Morgan, a former culture secretary and women and equalities minister who now sits in the Lords, said she was “shocked” by the news, calling it a “bit of a jaw dropper.”
Morgan told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was an “element of almost aggression about it as well.”
If the allegations are proven, the individual should be expelled from the party as a “minimum,” she added.
Her views were echoed by Ben Wallace, the UK’s defence secretary, who said the alleged culprit could “lose the whip … so they could no longer belong to the Conservative Party.”
“That usually means they can’t be reselected as an MP,” he told BBC Radio 4.
“If they’re a government minister they could lose their job. It would be for the House authorities to define what is an appropriate level of punishment for that type of behaviour.”
Morgan also hit out at the “male culture” that presides in parliament, saying sexism and misogyny was “not just an issue on Conservative benches” but “across the House.”
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, told the BBC she was “ashamed” that the individual had worn a Conservative rosette.
She stressed it was “a very small minority of men, and it is men, who fall short,” adding: “There are some bad apples who are out of order, who behave like animals and bring parliament into disrepute to be honest.”
It comes amid a brewing scandal around sexual misconduct, referred to as “Pestminster 2.0” – a reference to the original scandal that blew up in 2017, which led to the resignation of then-defence secretary Michael Fallon.
This time around David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, is one of the few who has been named as facing sexual harrassment claims. The MP, who has had the whip withdrawn, denies any wrongdoing.
During PMQs on Wednesday, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas used her question to highlight that 56 MPs are currently under investigation for allegations of a sexual nature.
“The Prime Minister has just rightly said that there can be no place for sexism and misogyny in this House, so can he now confirm whether he considers that sexual harassment, apparently unlike bullying and lying, is grounds for dismissal under the ministerial code?” she asked.
Boris Johnson replied: “Of course sexual harassment is intolerable and it is quite right that members should now have a procedure by which they can bring that to the attention of the House authorities and I think that is a good thing, and of course it is grounds for dismissal.”
Speaking about the latest allegation after this Commons clash, a spokeswoman for Johnson added: “The chief whip is looking into this matter. This behaviour is wholly unacceptable and action will be taken.”
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