Westminster has come under renewed pressure from unions to ban MPs accused of sexual misconduct from parliament following the arrest of a Conservative MP on suspicion of rape.
The move follows the Metropolitan police arrest of a man in his 50s on suspicion of “indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office”. The Conservative party confirmed the unnamed man is a Tory MP.
Police on Wednesday said the man has been bailed “pending further enquiries to a date in mid-June”.
The Conservative whips’ office, which maintains discipline in the party, had asked the man to avoid parliament while the investigation is conducted. However, unions have called for MPs under investigation for serious sexual misconduct to be banned.
Speaking on the BBC, Mike Clancy, general secretary of the union Prospect on Wednesday called for a “real change”, adding that existing parliamentary practices in relation to this issue were no longer sufficient.
FDA union national officer Jawad Raza said the decision earlier this year by the parliamentary procedure committee not to launch an inquiry into whether MPs accused of sexual misconduct should be banned, was a “missed opportunity”.
“Sexual offences linked to parliamentarians are not new and, regrettably, recent events have shown the issue is not going away,” he said.
“The decision to not even explore the options available, speak to those who are impacted or gather any evidence is clearly unacceptable.”
GMB which represents MPs’ staff, said in a statement on Tuesday that safety for workers in Westminster “must be the absolute priority and no chances should be taken.”
Downing Street told journalists that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was “shocked” to learn of the allegations against the Tory MP.
It added that only a “small number” of MPs in recent years had fallen below the standards required and that the “vast majority of MPs behave with the respect and decency you would expect”.
“Clearly, there have been a small minority who have not lived up to those expectations and that is not acceptable,” said Number 10.
Asked why the party whip had not been removed from the MP under investigation, the prime minister’s spokesperson said it was a matter for the whips’ office.
Speaking earlier on Wednesday, foreign secretary Liz Truss called for a change of culture within Westminster following a flurry of misconduct allegations involving Conservative and Labour MPs.
“I certainly think that the culture of the House of Commons has changed and needs to change further,” she told LBC. “I think there needs to be more to be done to professionalise the way the House of Commons works.”
In April, Neil Parish, Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton resigned after admitting to watching pornography in the House of Commons chamber.
In the same month, Imran Ahmad Khan, the Tory MP for Wakefield was forced to step down after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008.
Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, Liam Byrne was suspended last month for two days after an investigation by the independent experts panel found he had bullied a member of his team.