Neil Parish has resigned as a Tory MP after admitting to watching pornography in the Commons chamber twice, in what he described as a “moment of madness”
The Tiverton and Honiton MP, who is a farmer, said he first watched adult content by mistake after looking at tractors on his mobile phone. However, he admitted the second time was deliberate.
“I was not proud of what I was doing,” he told BBC South West, in an interview which saw him tear up. “I’m not going to defend what I did … it was absolutely wrong.” But he denied watching the material in a way where he hoped other people would see it.
Two female colleagues, on Tuesday, reported they had seen him looking at pornography while sitting near them. On Friday, Mr Parish had the whip suspended and referred himself to the standards committee, but ignored calls to resign immediately.
However, he said today he had changed his mind after seeing the pain and damage it was causing his family, his constituency and local association. “I make a full apology. A total full apology,” he said.
Rayner doubts Parish’s reason for viewing porn in Commons
Angela Rayner has ridiculed outgoing Tory Neil Parish following his BBC interview, in which he confirmed he would resign as an MP for watching pornography in the Commons.
Explaining how the situation came about, Mr Parish, who is a farmer, claimed he was looking at tractors when he “got into another website that had a very similar name”.
He also admitted to deliberately viewing similar content at another time while inside the debating chamber. “My crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time,” he said.
Responding to his claims, Ms Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, said mockingly: “He was looking for tractors but ended up with porn actors? Neil Parish must think you were all born yesterday.” In a tweet, she added:
Watch: Parish resigns after admitting to watching porn in Commons
Parish admits losing all ‘decency’ but denies watching porn as form of intimidation
More from Neil Parish’s BBC interview now, during which he said viewing porn in the House of Commons was a “moment of madness” and “I was not proud of what I was doing”.
He continued: “The situation was that – funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at. I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done. But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”
When asked whether viewing the porn for a second time had been deliberate, he said: “That was deliberate… that was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.” But he denied watching the material in a way where he hoped other people would see it.
He added: “What I did was absolutely totally wrong.”
Asked what “possesed” him to view the material in parliament, Mr Parish described his actions as “madness, total madness”, and accepted he had lost what he claimed had been “one of the best reputations ever” in the House of Commons. He went on:
“I think I must have taken complete leave of my senses and my sensibilities and my sense of decency and everything. I’m not defending what I did for one moment, but I thought the best thing I can do – and that’s why I want to put this on record – is absolutely tell the truth.”
The disgraced official finished by issuing “a full apology. A total full apology.”
Parish got emotional during the interview
” height=”726″ width=”982″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Parish got emotional during the interview
BREAKING: Neil Parish quits as MP after admitting watching porn in Commons
Neil Parish has resigned as an MP, after admitting to watching porn in the Commons chamber in what he described as a “moment of madness”.
Follow our political editor Andrew Woodcock’s breaking story as it develops:
Watch: Parish should be kicked out of Tory party if found guilty, says minister
Call to make watching porn in public place a criminal offence
Watching pornography in a public place should be made a criminal offence in the UK, the author of a keystone new report on misogyny has told The Independent in the wake of Tory MP Neil Parish’s suspension for viewing adult material in the Commons.
Eminent barrister and peer Helena Kennedy said there had been a dramatic and alarming increase in recent years in men viewing hardcore porn on trains or buses when seated next to women they do not know or showing women graphic pictures in workplaces, pubs and clubs, apparently getting a thrill from the discomfort and distress they cause.
She said her year-long inquiry for the Scottish government, published last month, found that social media and easy access to porn on phones has created an “incredible disinhibiting effect” which has transformed the kind of abuse women face in public places.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more:
ICYMI: Patel sends email declaring Tories ‘party of law and order’ amid porn scandal
Home secretary Priti Patel on Friday declared the Conservatives “the party of law and order”, an hour after a Tory MP was suspended over claims he watched porn in the Commons.
In an email sent to party members, Ms Patel declared: “We are the party of law and order – we’ve proven that this week”. The note went on to boast about police recruitment and new powers being given to officers.
However, the email, sent at 4.30pm on Friday, failed to acknowledge it had been sent just over an hour after the Conservative MP accused of watching porn in the Commons was named and suspended from the parliamentary party.
It also came just a few days after Tory Imran Ahmad Khan was forced to resign as Wakefield’s MP two and a half weeks after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
“Law and order is turning into Boris Johnson’s new weakness,” the i’s Paul Waugh notes, “and Labour know it.”
Not to mention this scathing commentary from Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper:
Who is Neil Parish?
MP Neil Parish is the man at the centre of a major Westminster scandal, suspended by the Conservatives while an investigation takes place into claims he watched pornography on his mobile phone in parliament.
Following days of speculation about the identity of the man accused of viewing porn, it was announced on Friday that the Tory whip had been removed from Mr Parish, and that he had reported himself to the parliament’s sleaze watchdog.
So who is Mr Parish? Adam Forrest takes a closer look:
Parish admits MPs can ‘step over the line’ – days before having whip removed
As we reported yesterday, Neil Parish was asked about the saga earlier this week during an interview with GB News.
During the exchange, he denied there was a culture-wide problem in parliament, but admitted some people occasionally “step over the line”.
“It does have to be dealt with, and dealt with seriously, and that’s what our chief whip’s office will do,” he told the broadcaster, days before the party removed the whip from Mr Parish himself in relation to the allegations.
