Three members of the British government and dozens of other MPs have been reported to a relevant oversight body for alleged sexual harassment.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons in London. (Recorded on April 20, 2022)
(dpa) A total of 70 complaints about 56 unnamed MPs have been received by the independent contact point, as reported by the “Sunday Times” on Sunday. The parliamentary body was created in 2018 after the #MeToo scandal, when countless women shared their experiences of sexual violence or harassment.
Complaints filed range from reports of inappropriate comments with a sexual connotation to more serious harassment. According to the Times, at least one case involves criminally relevant acts. An MP is said to have bribed a member of his staff in return for sexual favors.
According to the report, the Speaker of Parliament Lindsay Hoyle wants to launch a review of the working culture in Parliament in view of the high number of complaints. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, which represents government employees, sees the problem in the power imbalance between MPs and their employees. The parliamentarians can make largely independent decisions about their workforce. A government spokesman told the newspaper: “We take all allegations of this kind incredibly seriously and encourage all those affected to report them to the appropriate authorities.”
Allegations against Vice-President of the Labor Party
A report in the “Mail on Sunday” on Sunday caused a stir in the ranks of the opposition, among others: Conservative MPs accuse the deputy leader of the Labor Party, Angela Rayner, of distracting Johnson during the weekly survey of the prime minister by she crossed her legs while sitting opposite him.
Rayner indignantly denied this. “He [Johnson] and his cheerleaders have a big problem with women in public life. You should be ashamed,” she wrote on Twitter. Johnson publicly distanced himself from the allegations Sunday afternoon, tweeting that he regrets the misogyny directed at Rayner.