Westminster sex pests helped make Rishi Sunak PM. But has he forgotten the victims? ✒️ annemcelvoy for ipaperviews
Another major problem with relying on the Whips is that their operation is ultimately political. Their job is to ensure government business gets through Parliament and when politics are turbulent and votes on a knife edge, gives them a conflictCulturally too, the Whips’ office has been slow to confront persistent offenders. There’s also the matter of the fact that the structures and strictures of their operation apply only to MPs.
Some things have improved since then. Dissatisfaction among female MPs, fed up with “handsy” male colleagues and frustrated about their inability to give better guarantees of due process to staffers has become unignorable. Lawyer-led inquiries at least aired the issue but are only effective in establishing retrospective problems and making recommendations. An Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme , expediting referral to the police is cumbersome .
It would be unthinkable for an organisation of the size and complexity of Parliament not to have a full and active HR facility with a more streamlined process for such matters. That is just as important also for those who are accused of misconduct and then vindicated. Conor Burns, a prominent Conservative accused of groping in a bar at the Tory party conference this year was recently cleared of the allegations – and had the Whip restored. But that is an unusually speedy case.
Ultimately, this is about the culture at Westminster and the expectations MPs have of each other. Some miscreants have been in plain sight, with scant peer pressure to change their ways.
Tolerating the milder end of harassment as a joke or simply to be expected of some politicians has led to an environment where far worse activities go unchecked. Everyone, from the Prime Minister down knows that the “serious ethical issues” he alluded to persist. Finally, Westminster is getting more serious about cleaning up Pestminster. But the focus and the remedies need to be faster and more consistent. The roll call of suspensions tells the story of a problem left to fester for too long.
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