British MP Neil Parish (65) admits that he watched porn in the House of Commons. He resigns and thus triggers by-elections in an English constituency.
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– I think I must have completely lost my mind and sense of decency, the conservative politician says BBC Saturday.
The admission comes a few days before the British local elections. This election is considered very important for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his pressured Conservative party.
“I was not proud of what I did,” Parish said in an interview with the British broadcaster.
On Friday, he was suspended from the party. It happened after the accusations that he watched porn on his mobile phone during a meeting in the House of Commons.
– An accident
He now says that he watched porn twice and describes it as a “momentary madness” that can not be defended.
Parish has a background as a farmer, and is currently chair of the environment and agriculture committee in the House of Commons. He has been in the House of Commons since 2010.
On Tuesday, two female colleagues said they had seen him use his mobile phone to watch porn both in the House of Commons’ plenary hall and in a committee meeting.
Parish says that the first time it happened by accident after he allegedly confused a tractor website with a porn site with a similar name. The second time was on purpose.
–56 examined
However, he rejects claims from some that he wanted people to see what he was doing.
“Obviously it is unacceptable for someone to do such a thing in a workplace,” said Prime Minister Johnson on Thursday.
In addition to being suspended from the party, Parish risked being subjected to at least two parliamentary investigations as a result of the scandal.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that at least 56 parliamentarians are being investigated for allegations of sexually abusive behavior. Among those subject to Parliament’s internal scrutiny are three ministers.
The Tories have recently been subjected to several accusations that the party has a misogynistic environment.
Earlier this spring, the newspaper Mail on Sunday quoted unnamed Tories in the House of Commons. The anonymous MPs accused Labor deputy Angela Rayner of trying to distract Prime Minister Johnson with his leg movements.
The post provoked strong reactions and accusations of sexism. Johnson himself also distanced himself from the allegations, which he described as an expression of heinous misogyny.
Rayner was quick to respond to the news of Parish’s departure. She calls the Conservative Party under Johnson’s leadership a national disgrace.
The pressure before more elections
The fact that Parish is leaving the House of Commons means that residents will go to the polls earlier than expected in his constituency in the south-west of England. Tiverton and Honiton in Devon is a tory bastion, and Parish won by a majority of 24,000 votes during the 2019 Conservatives’ landslide.
The Conservatives have represented this area in the House of Commons for around 100 years. But the prime minister’s party has been weakened by a series of scandals over the past year. In December, the Tories lost a by-election in North Shropshire, a constituency that has always been represented by conservatives.
The party is now preparing for a new by-election in Wakefield in the north of England. The Conservative MP from there, Imran Ahmad Khan, resigned in April. The 48-year-old was recently found guilty of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in 2008. He denies the allegations.
At the same time, it is expected that the Tories will face opposition in the local elections next Thursday. Then voters across the UK will have an opportunity to express what they think about the ruling party after several scandals.
–Johnson is being investigated
Johnson himself is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in the wake of the parties the prime minister attended when England was crowned.
If the investigation concludes that he lied about whether he had broken the rules, it may mean that he must resign.
Johnson has apologized for his behavior, but has maintained that he did not know he was breaking the corona rules.
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