Closing Parliament bars to tackle 'culture of misogyny' is 'excessively puritanical', says minister

ITV News Political Correspondent Libby Wiener reports on the growing scandal threatening to engulf Westminster

Closing all of Parliament's bars to tackle a reported culture of sexual misconduct and sleaze would be "excessively puritanical", a cabinet minister has said.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng "rejected" that the Tories had become a party of "sleaze" and a culture of misogyny in Parliament - instead pointing to a few “bad apples” despite a series of scandals over the behaviour of MPs.

His comments came as Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle called for “radical” reform to working practices after a string of bullying and sexual misconduct offences involving MPs, with fears Parliament's reputation had reached a new low.

Parliament is facing a reckoning to improve its standards after Tory Neil Parish admitted he twice watched pornography in the Commons as he announced his resignation as the MP for Tiverton and Honiton.

ITV News has learnt of yet more stories of misbehaviour in the lobbies, as another MP claimed he was inappropriately touched.

Labour's Chris Bryant said he was "touched up" by "several MPs" as he arrived as a newly elected politician to the House of Commons.

"When I first arrived in parliament there were several MPs who felt entitled just to be able to touch me up in the division lobby and I dealt with it in my own way," he said.

Now the chair of Westminster’s standards committee, Mr Bryant added: "I and others knew that because of the system of patronage and power that happens in Parliament, it's much more difficult to report about somebody who's in a senior position."

Chris Bryant says he was 'touched up' by other MPs in parliament

Meanwhile, a report in the Sunday Times described alleged drunken and disorderly behaviour, including a senior MP accused of repeatedly licking the faces of researchers in parliamentary bars.

Other allegations detailed include a minister being overheard frequently having “noisy sex” in his parliamentary office, an MP being warned over his use of prostitutes, and a female Tory being sent a “d*** pic” by a colleague.

Mr Kwarteng accepted that the allegations were “extraordinary and unacceptable” but ruled out closing Parliament’s many bars to tackle the sleaze.

“No, they shouldn’t all be shut, I don’t think we should have an excessively puritanical, severe regime in that regard,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

With local elections a few days away, how does this reflect on Westminster as a whole?

He told the BBC’s Sunday Morning show that Parliament is a safe place for women to work, adding: “I think we’ve got to distinguish between some bad apples, people who behave badly, and the general environment.

“There are some bad apples, there are people who have acted very badly, and they should be held to account.”

Mr Kwarteng insisted it is a safe place for women to work as he backed the resignation of Tory colleague Neil Parish for twice watching pornography in the Commons.

He told ITV News that he had sympathy for Mr Parish and his wife Sue, but said: "What he did was a very dumb thing to do."

"Frankly, in most other walks of life, most professions, he would've been sacked for doing what he did."

Mr Kwarteng rejected suggestions the Tories are looking "more like the party of sleaze of the 1990s" and that the government has had "really substantial successes that we're rightly proud of."

But the emergence of a string of allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying involving MPs, have triggered women working in Westminster to share accounts of their treatment, with Cabinet ministers describing men acting like “animals”.

Senior Conservative Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee, has accused the Tories of “institutional sexism”.

Senior Tories have been pushing to get more women MPs, but Mr Kwarteng said he is not “a fan of quotas” to boost their numbers.

Calling for urgent action, Commons speaker Sir Lindsay suggested staff should no longer be employed by the parliamentarians they work for to address a series of “serious allegations”.

He said he is considering an outside body employing aides as he moved to establish a “Speaker’s conference” bringing MPs together to discuss an overhaul.

Writing in the Observer, Sir Lindsay said: “In my opinion, it is time to consider radical action, and review structures and processes that could make a difference. Some serious allegations have been made, and we must address them as a matter of urgency. It is imperative we do the right thing by staff and MPs as well.

“At the end of the day, I want to make sure that everyone feels they have support and somewhere to turn – and to make this house not only a safe and inclusive place to work, but a model for other legislatures.”

His bid for change was echoed by Andrea Leadsom, the former leader of the Commons, who in 2018 spearheaded the creation of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), which looks into claims of bullying and sexual harassment.

She told The Sunday Times: “Things haven’t changed and that’s because there aren’t enough cases coming through and it’s taking too long for investigations to come to an end.

“It’s only when you see people getting done for being blind drunk and subject to the appropriate sanctions that people will start to think twice about their behaviour.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he will participate in the Speaker’s bid, and called for “political leadership” from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fix the problem “because the fish rots from the head”.

Cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan this week described once being “pinned up against a wall” by a former MP, while colleague Suella Braverman said some men act like “animals”.

Sir Lindsay's calls came a day after Mr Parish's emotional admission that he had watched adult material twice in the Commons chamber in what he described as a "moment of madness".

The farmer by trade, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, said he first accidentally viewed porn in the Commons chamber after looking at tractors online, before later doing so deliberately.

His departure will pave the way for a by-election in the Tory safe seat and he still faces an investigation by the ICGS.

His admission capped a series of developing bullying and sexual misconduct claims that have rocked the Commons in recent weeks, amid the partygate scandal which saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chancellor Rishi Sunak fined for breaching Covid rules.