Tory accused of watching porn in the House of Commons is Tiverton MP Neil Parish
Revealed: Neil Parish is named as Tory MP accused of watching porn on his phone in the Commons as he has whip suspended and reports himself to standards watchdog ending days of speculation
Neil Parish has been named as the MP accused by colleagues of watching porn in the House of Commons The MP for Tiverton and Honiton has had the party whip suspended after days of fevered speculation Mr Parish has referred himself to Parliament standards watchdog and will now be subject to an investigation
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Neil Parish was today dramatically revealed as the Tory MP accused of watching porn in the Commons.
The MP for Tiverton and Honiton has had the party whip suspended after finally being identified following days of fevered speculation.
He has referred himself to the standards watchdog over allegations that he had been seen watching adult material in the House by two female colleagues.
A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris said: ‘Having spoken to the Chief Whip this afternoon, Neil Parish MP is reporting himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
‘Mr Parish has been suspended from the Conservative Whip pending the outcome of that investigation.’
It is understood a process has now been launched through Parliament’s independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS).
Mr Parish, who has been an MP since 2010 and is chair of the cross-party Environment Committe, was asked about the situation when he was interviewed on GB News earlier this week.
He said Westminster could be ‘intense’ and ‘you are going to get people that step over the line’.
MP Neil Parish, pictured speaking in the chamber, has had the Conservative whip suspended while he is being investigated for allegedly watching pornography in the Commons
Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris (left) has now suspended the whip from the MP pending an investiation. Backbencher Nickie Aiken (right) said the Tory MP responsible for watching pornography in the Houses of Parliament should quit
Shadow Commons Leader Thangam Debbonaire said: ‘The Conservatives knew for days about the disgusting behaviour of one of their MPs and tried to cover it up…
‘This is a government rotting from the head down. Britain deserves better.’
Though the allegations are still be to investigated, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Boris Johnson must order his MP to quit.
‘If Boris Johnson had any shred of decency left, he would tell Neil Parish to resign immediately,’ she said.
‘In any other workplace this would count as gross misconduct and the person responsible would lose their job. Parliament should be no different.
‘We don’t need to insult the women MPs who witnessed this with a lengthy investigation. All his bosses need to do is ask for his devices and look at his viewing history, this isn’t rocket science.’
Tory MP Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, said she had been ‘disappointed’ that the whip was not suspended immediately but was now ‘very relieved’.
She told ITV News: ‘I’ve been calling for the Chief Whip to remove the whip from when we first heard about this incident…
‘I’m pleased that action has been taken and I hope that the two women who complained are being supported through the system as well.’
The PM has previously condemned the alleged watching of porn in the Commons, while other Conservatives said the MP involved should take a ‘long, hard look’ at themselves and resign.
Meanwhile, there have been complaints that Mr Heaton-Harris had kicked the scandal ‘into the long grass’ by referring it to the Parliamentary grievance process rather than taking action.
It appears the IGCS inquiry has now been triggered with at least one of the witnesses making a complaint.
But a second investigation could be launched after Mr Parish’s commitment to refer himself to the Standards Committee.
It is unclear what potential breach of the MPs’ code of conduct he would report himself for.
But it is thought one option for Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone could be whether Mr Parish caused ‘significant damage to the reputation and integrity’ of the Commons.
Appearing on GB News earlier this week, Mr Parish himself said the claims had to be dealt with ‘seriously’.
Mr Parish said: ‘I think the whips office will do a thorough investigation and we will wait and see that result.’
He added there were 650 MPs and it was an ‘intense area.
‘If you’ve got sort of 650 members of parliament in what is a very intense area, you are going to get people that step over the line…
‘I don’t think there’s necessarily a huge culture here but I think it does have to be dealt with and dealt with seriously. That’s what the whips will do,’ he said.
MPs have reacted with revulsion to the claims that a Tory had been caught by two of his female colleagues watching porn in the House of Commons.
On a visit to Burnley yesterday, the PM told broadcasters: ‘I think it’s obviously unacceptable for anybody to be doing that kind of thing in the workplace.
‘It would be the same for any kind of job up and down the country, let’s be absolutely clear about that.
‘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 get to understand the facts but, yeah, that kind of behaviour is clearly totally unacceptable.’
Attorney General Suella Braverman said if the MP was found to have been watching adult material it should result in them ‘no longer holding their privileged position as a Member of Parliament’.
She said there was a ‘very small minority of men – and it is men – who fall short and there are some bad apples who are out of order – who behave like animals, and are bringing Parliament into disrepute to be honest’.
Tory MP Nickie Aiken said earlier that the alleged porn-watching MP ‘has to resign’ from the Commons as she warned that he was causing ‘pain, suffering and embarrassment’ to both the party and Parliament.
He should ‘take a very very long, hard look’ at himself and ask ‘should I still be here?’, she told Times Radio.
Earlier today, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the vast majority of her male colleagues are ‘delightful’ and ‘committed parliamentarians’.
But she said a few behaved badly when they had ‘too much drink’, insisting people should act ‘as if their daughter was in the room’.
Ms Trevelyan spoke about one extraordinary incident when she was ‘pinned up against a wall’ by a man who is now no longer an MP.
Ms Trevelyan told Sky News of male MPs: ‘There are a few for whom too much drink, or indeed a sort of, a view that somehow being elected makes them you know, God’s gift to women, that they can suddenly please themselves, that is never OK, that kind of behaviour, disrespect for women.’
She added: ‘Fundamentally, if you’re a bloke, keep your hands in your pockets and behave as you would if you had your daughter in the room.’
Ms Trevelyan told LBC Radio: ‘I’ve witnessed and been at the sharp end of misogyny from some colleagues many times over’.
‘We might describe it as wandering hands, if you like, we might describe it as, you know, a number of years ago being pinned up against a wall by a male MP who is now no longer in the House, I’m pleased to say, declaring that I must want him because he was a powerful man’.
‘These sorts of things, these power abuses that a very small minority, thank goodness, of male colleagues show is completely unacceptable.’
She advised women subjected to that kind of behaviour to ‘make public humiliation one of your tools’.
However, while Ms Trevelyan described watching porn in the Commons chamber as ‘completely unacceptable’, she declined to say whether the MP involved should be sacked.
Mr Parish pictured with Mr Johnson before the latest controversy erupted
Boris Johnson (pictured on a visit to Burnley yesterday) said it would be ‘unacceptable’ to watch porn in the Commons
Cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan reveals she was ‘pinned up against a wall’ by male MP as she reads riot act to sleazy politicians
A Cabinet minister today revealed she was once ‘pinned up against the wall’ by a male MP.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the vast majority of her male colleagues are ‘delightful’ and ‘committed parliamentarians’.
But she said a few behaved badly when they had ‘too much drink’, insisting people should act ‘as if their daughter was in the room’.
Ms Trevelyan spoke about one extraordinary incident when she was ‘pinned up against a wall’ by a man who is now no longer an MP.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the vast majority of her male colleagues are ‘delightful’ and ‘committed parliamentarians’
Ms Trevelyan told Sky News of male MPs: ‘There are a few for whom too much drink, or indeed a sort of, a view that somehow being elected makes them you know, God’s gift to women, that they can suddenly please themselves, that is never OK, that kind of behaviour, disrespect for women.’
She added: ‘Fundamentally, if you’re a bloke, keep your hands in your pockets and behave as you would if you had your daughter in the room.’
Ms Trevelyan told LBC Radio: ‘I’ve witnessed and been at the sharp end of misogyny from some colleagues many times over’.
‘We might describe it as wandering hands, if you like, we might describe it as, you know, a number of years ago being pinned up against a wall by a male MP who is now no longer in the House, I’m pleased to say, declaring that I must want him because he was a powerful man’.
‘These sorts of things, these power abuses that a very small minority, thank goodness, of male colleagues show is completely unacceptable.’
She advised women subjected to that kind of behaviour to ‘make public humiliation one of your tools’.
However, while Ms Trevelyan described watching porn in the Commons chamber as ‘completely unacceptable’, she declined to say whether the MP involved should be sacked.
