Labour has accused Conservative party whips of delaying action over the MP accused of watching pornography in parliament, saying it was “shameful” that it was three days before Neil Parish was suspended from the party and referred himself for investigation.
The 65-year-old MP for Tiverton and Honiton is understood to have been identified to chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris by two female MPs on Tuesday, but his name was not revealed until Friday, when he submitted himself for an inquiry by Commons standards commissioner Kathryn Stone.
Mr Parish has had the Tory whip suspended, but insisted he will not quit parliament while the inquiry takes place. He indicated that he will argue he opened the adult material in error, but added that he will stand down if found guilty.
But he is coming under pressure from fellow-Tories to resign immediately, with Caroline Dinenage, who sits on the women and equalities committee, saying: “I cannot see how his position is sustainable. It is just utterly bizarre.”
The committe’s chair Caroline Nokes, who was present at Tuesday’s meeting, said she was “disappointed” the whip was not removed immediately and blasted “unnecessary dither and delay” in taking action.
“I fully expected to wake up on the Wednesday morning and find this a Member of Parliament had the whip suspended,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I was very disappointed when there wasn’t immediate action by the chief whip to do that. I think it was important, not least because a cloud was hanging over other colleagues’ heads because nobody knew the identity.
“And to be frank, as a female parliamentarian, I wanted reassurance from the whips that they were going to take this seriously and act.”
Labour frontbencher Bridget Phillipson said the delay in naming and suspending Parish was “shameful” and left thousands of parliamentary staff unable to feel safe at work.
“What we’ve seen is absolutely shocking,” Ms Phillipson told Today. “And really, there can be no place for that in parliament or any workplace.
“It shouldn’t have taken days for him to be referred to the process. That doesn’t necessarily involve him being named, but it was clear no action had been taken.
“For some days Conservative whips knew exactly who he was. And at the same time, of course, people in the House of Commons – and that’s not just MPs, thousands of people work there – would be concerned about what that would mean.
“This isn’t just a case about MPs. It’s a workplace for many people and they’ve got every right to feel safe when they are at work. That’s why it’s shameful it’s taken so long for action to happen.”
The Conservative minister for safeguarding women, Rachel Maclean, said that Mr Heaton-Harris had taken the right action, adding that “there clearly needed to be some time to establish the veracity of what was said the facts of the case”. There would be no place for Mr Parish in the party “if this is substantiated and those allegations turn out to be true”, she said.
Ms Maclean said it was a matter for Mr Parish whether he stayed on as an MP while the inquiry proceeds, but suggested that measures will be taken when he is dealing with female constituents.
“I want to be clear he is not continuing his business as normal,” she told Times Radio. “He’s under investigation, and I’m confident that the appropriate measures will be put in place to safeguard any of his constituents, particularly women and girls.”
Ms Maclean rejected the idea that the Conservative Party was “institutionally sexist”. She told Today: “I don’t agree with that characterization. I think there is clearly a problem in the House of Commons and I think it extends to all parties. My experience of my party is that my male colleagues have been supportive, friendly, respectful, professional, courteous.”
