A CONSERVATIVE MP caught watching pornography in the House of Commons should be expelled from the party and kicked out of parliament, his colleagues have said.
The unnamed man looks set to be referred to the independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS) after two women caught him watching sexually films on his phone.
Home Office minister, Rachel Maclean, whose brief includes safeguarding women, called for the MP to be expelled from the party, saying the alleged behaviour was “shocking and unacceptable”.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I certainly think they should lose the whip.”
He also said the person “could be subject to a recall petition”, adding: “There are a range of measures, if this is proven then measures and discipline should be administered.”
Mr Wallace partly laid the blame for his colleague's behaviour on the "overall culture of the House of Commons."
He said: “It is late sitting, long nights with bars, and that very often leads, and it has done for decades, to behavioural challenges.”
He expanded further on this in an interview with Times Radio: “The fundamental problem of Westminster is the overall culture that hundreds and hundreds of people are working long hours in a place with bars and that mix becomes poisonous.
“We see all sorts of problems, and that’s been going on for decades and it’s not easy to fix. We’ve seen lots of problems in the bars over the decades. We’ve seen fights, we’ve seen sexist comments, we’ve seen propositions. My advice to any MP is actually to avoid the bars. To finish your day’s work and go home. That is part of the ultimate challenge around parliament that I think needs to be fixed,” he said.
“In the armed forces I have a similar challenge. Often in those high-pressure environments where people mix and then alcohol is consumed you end up in a place where people do things that either they regret or things that are totally unacceptable.”
Details of the porn-watching came out at a meeting of female Tory MPs on Tuesday night.
A minister attending said that they had seen the man watching the adult movies in the Commons last week.
She told colleagues that she believed the man knew she had caught him, but that, despite that, he continued watching.
A second female Tory MP said she had also seen the man watching pornography. She said she had attempted to film him as proof of what he was doing.
It was initially reported that the MP was a frontbencher but government sources subsequently clarified that the man in question was a backbencher.
Ms Maclean, who was at the meeting on Tuesday where the allegations surfaced, said everyone present had been “shocked and horrified”.
“It’s just gruesome,” she told Sky News’s The Take With Sophy Ridge.
“I’m the minister responsible for safeguarding women and for creating laws which protect women against sexual harassment and violence against women and girls, so it is deeply sickening and disgusting to hear that a male MP is watching porn.
“Action needs to be taken and I very much hope… we will see him out of Parliament, out of the party. I hope that’s where we get to.”
The meeting came amid reports that 56 MPs, including three Cabinet ministers, are facing allegations of sexual misconduct referred to the ICGS.
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