Anne-Marie Trevelyan says she was 'pinned against the wall' by male MP in 'abuse of power'

The MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed added she had been subjected to "wandering hands" by "half a dozen" men in Westminster, some of whom were "repeat offenders". Credit: PA Images

A female Cabinet minister has said she was once "pinned up against a wall" by a male MP as she told colleagues to "keep your hands in your pockets" amid renewed accusations of misogyny and sexual misconduct in Parliament.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told ITV News: "I've had sadly too many experiences where men have crossed the line from a work environment to one where they think they can have a go.

"There is no place, in any working environment, particularly in parliament, where men can think it's okay to use their power to ask of inappropriate behaviours for young women or men," the Berwick-upon-Tweed MP continued.

"It's not okay and these men need to be called out and need to be punished."


Anne-Marie Trevelyan tells ITV News about her experiences of inappropriate behaviour


Ms Trevelyan went on to describe an incident in which she says she was subjected to inappropriate behaviour two years ago and no action was taken once she reported it "to the whips".

Earlier, in an interview with LBC Radio, she said: "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".

The MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed added she had been subjected to "wandering hands" by "half a dozen" men in Westminster, some of whom were "repeat offenders".

It comes as Boris Johnson comes under growing pressure to remove the whip from a Tory MP accused of watching pornography in the Commons chamber and as a growing chorus of senior ministers hit out at Westminster's "shameful" culture.

56 MPs, including cabinet ministers, are reportedly facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

The charge levelled against the unnamed Tory is set to be examined under Parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), which investigates allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister described the porn-watching allegations as "totally unacceptable".

During a visit to Burnley, Mr Johnson told broadcasters: "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."

Mr Heaton-Harris called for the independent investigation after the porn-watching allegations surfaced during a meeting of Tory MPs at Westminster on Tuesday.

In an interview with ITV News, Ms Trevelyan said: "watching porn in your workplace is just not acceptable", adding: "I have no doubt that the chief whip will be dealing with it as we would hope".