The Guardian - UK (2022-04-30)

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Tory MP Neil Parish faces

inquiry over porn claims

Ben Quinn

Heather Stewart

Rowena Mason

A senior Conservative MP is

under investigation for watching

pornography in the House of Com-

mons after furious female colleagues

forced government whips to act.

Neil Parish, the MP for Tiverton

and Honiton in Devon, had the whip

suspended after becoming the fourth

MP from his party since the last elec-

tion to face claims of impropriety.

Parish revealed that he had

referred himself to the standards

commissioner yesterday after senior

Tory women expressed outrage at the

party for failing to act on complaints

made earlier this week, despite being

aware of his identity.

In a statement, the 65-year-old MP

said he would be “cooperating fully

with any investigation”. He later told

reporters he may have accidentally

opened a pornographic video in the

Commons and said he will quit as an

MP if found guilty.

T ory whips had refused to act for

more than 48 hours after a female

minister and parliamentary aide

made claims about Parish on Tuesday

These ladies were quite right to be as

[upset] as they were.”

Describing her husband as a “nor-

mal ... lovely person”, she added: “If

you were mad with every man who

looked at pornography, you would

not have many wives in the world.

“It’s degrading. It’s demeaning.

But on the other hand it takes two

to tango. There must be

women posing for all this.”

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A potential fraud

investigation has been

launched into a PPE

company linked to Tory

peer Michelle Mone

Page 2

Lady Mone

Home raided

as PPE fi rm

investigated

night. The whips suggested the female

MPs should instead make complaints

to the parliamentary watchdog, the

Independent Complaints and Griev-

ance S cheme (ICGS) , which is now

also investigating.

Sue Parish, the MP’s wife, told the

Times the accusations were “all very

embarrassing”, adding: “My breath

was taken away, frankly. People

shouldn’t be looking at porn ography.