Un British MP, Neil Parish, the subject of an internal investigation after being accused of watching pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons, has been suspended by the Conservative group in Parliament. The 65-year-old has reported himself to the Parliament’s Committee on MPs’ Conduct, a spokesman for Tory leader Chris Heaton-Harris said.
“Neil Parish has been suspended from the conservative group pending the conclusions of the investigation”, according to the same source. Boris Johnson’s British Conservative Party opened an investigation on Wednesday after an MP accused Neil Parish, 65, of watching pornographic content in the House of Commons. He had not been publicly named at the time.
“This attitude is totally unacceptable,” said disciplinary officials within the ruling party, promising that “measures will be taken”. “I will cooperate fully with any investigation, and continue to fulfill my role as MP for Tiverton and Honiton while the investigations are underway,” said Neil Parish, adding that he would not communicate more for the moment. For her part, Labor MP Harriet Harman called on him to resign “immediately” if he is indeed guilty of the charges against him. The incident took place in the midst of a debate on sexism in Parliament.
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Another controversy triggered by a misogynistic attack
Sunday, the Sunday Times revealed that three ministers and two opposition MPs are currently the subject of “charges of bad behavior of a sexual nature”, a term which can cover sexual harassment, voyeurism or even sexual assault. They are among 56 deputies reported to an office responsible for registering these complaints, set up following the MeToo movement.
A misogynistic attack against the number two of the Labor Party Angela Rayner, relayed by the tabloid Mail on Sunday, also triggered a controversy. According to this newspaper, anonymous Tory MPs accuse Angela Rayner of enjoying distracting the Prime Minister by crossing and uncrossing her legs in Parliament, which Boris Johnson described on Monday as “sexist and misogynistic bullshit”.
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