‘Porn MP’ Neil Parish WILL resign as MP as he is investigated for watching X-rated clip in Commons
‘Porn MP’ Neil Parish WILL resign: Tory says he accidentally opened X-rated video in Commons while looking at tractors in a ‘moment of madness’ – then looked at it again during vote
‘Porn MP’ Neil Parish has said he will resign from Parliament after looking at porn in the House of CommonsHe confirmed his exit in an interview outside his local conservative association with BBC South WestThe move will trigger a by-election in the safe Conservative constituency of Tiverton and HonitonHe bizarrely claimed the first time he was caught, he was attempting to look at tractors on his phoneHe has admitted viewing the material for a second time deliberately while waiting to vote in the ChamberSenior Tories and opposition figures had called for Parish to go yesterday after the allegations were made
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Neil Parish has confirmed he will resign as an MP – admitting that he watched pornography in the House of Commons twice.
He claimed in an interview with BBC South West that the first time he viewed pornography in the Chamber was accidental when he had been searching on his phone for tractors.
He did admit that he viewed the content deliberately a second time while waiting to vote in the Commons.
Parish told the BBC that the incident was a ‘moment of madness’ and that ‘he was not proud of what [he] was doing’
Mr Parish gave a statement to press outside his home yesterday in which he explained that he had the Conservative whip suspended as the allegations are investigated
He was suspended by the Conservatives on Friday under investigation after confirming that he was the MP who had been seen watching the material.
His resignation will trigger a by-election in the South West seat of Tiverton and Honiton in Devon.
In an interview with BBC South West, he said: ‘The situation was that – funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at.
‘I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done.
‘But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.’That was deliberate… that was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.
In an interview with BBC South West (pictured), he said that the first time he viewed the material it was accidental and he was trying to look at tractors
‘What I did was absolutely wrong.’
He appeared outside his local Conservative association to make the announcement of his resignation.
He added: ‘I was wrong, I was stupid, I lost sense of mind.’
The resignation follows Parish’s wife, Sue Parish, promising to stand by her husband in an interview with the Times.
Ms Parish, said the incident was ‘very embarrassing’ but added that ‘if you were mad with every man who looked at pornography, you would not have many wives in the world.’
Yesterday, the 65-year-old farmer said he will resign if found guilty by standards commissioner Kathryn Stone, who is yet to say whether she will open an investigation.
Several MPs had called for Parish to resign, including Labour grandee Harriet Harman.
Ms Harman called on Mr Parish to stand down amid a ‘new low for the House of Commons’.
She told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: ‘If this is what he has done, he should stand down from Parliament right away. It is not right for him to go through the investigation processes if that is what he has done.
‘Clearly he is not fit to be in Parliament. He should accept that and not drag the processes out.’
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to order Mr Parish to ‘resign immediately’.
The 65-year-old has been the MP for Tiverton and Honiton since 2010, having previously been a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 until 2009.
He is a farmer as well as an MP and is a father and grandfather.
The 65-year-old had the party whip suspended yesterday afternoon after finally being identified as the man allegedly spotted browsing smut by Tory women, following days of fevered speculation.
Mr Parish, who is chair of the cross-party Environment Committee, has referred himself to the standards watchdog over allegations that he had been seen watching adult material in the House by two female colleagues.
Appearing on GB News earlier this week, Mr Parish himself said the claims had to be dealt with ‘seriously’ and backed Tory whips to conduct a ‘thorough investigation’.
He then added: ‘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 (of misogyny) here but I think it does have to be dealt with and dealt with seriously. That’s what the whips will do.’
