With some MPs behaving like Caligula resurrected, there have been calls to drag politicians into the classroom for some reprogramming.
Up to 56 MPs have now been accused of sexual misconduct ranging from serious sexual assault to harassment – and that’s not counting all the incidents of predatory behaviour never reported.
Nearly 80% of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported and we can assume victims will feel even more compelled to keep their mouths shut in the hallowed halls of Westminster.
The problem with reporting improper behaviour in any workplace which is institutionally discriminatory is that, too often, the victim is seen as the problem.
The suggestion compulsory training for politicians will fundamentally change the thinking of the degenerates among them is wildly optimistic.
Select which action is not acceptable in the parliamentary chamber? A. Looking at pictures of tractors. B. Watching porn.
Any attempt to teach misogynists to show women respect would be like trying to teach Priti Patel to show refugees some humanity.
But this isn’t some off-colour thinking – we have MPs accused of high-tariff sexual abuse.
Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was last month found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Charlie Elphicke was the MP for Dover when he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women, including one he chased around his home chanting: “I’m a naughty Tory.”
A fellow MP described his crimes as “folly.” Although women constitute the majority of victims, more men are coming forward to highlight how young males have been preyed upon by MPs.
This week, Labour MP Chris Bryant told how he was “touched up” by four older MPs when he came into parliament as a young man in 2001.
He said: “I never felt I was able to report it because you end up being part of the story and that’s the last thing you want.”
It is shocking this happened to Bryant but it was also telling that he told an LBC interviewer: “I bet you could guess who the four MPs were.”
The identities of serial sex pests have always been an open secret in Parliament but, instead of them being tackled, women and young men are expected to adjust their behaviour and stay clear of the “handsy.”
Anum Qaisar, who was elected SNP MP in May 2021, said she was told by opposition MPs which men to avoid in Parliament.
Lecherous, predatory behaviour in Westminster is as old as Big Ben and, despite numerous #MeToo moments, none have proved seminal.
In 2017, the “Pestminster” controversy saw senior political figures publicly accused of misconduct.
An Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was set up to deal with allegations of bullying and harassment against MPs and their staff but they have proved toothless.
An MP accused of rape was not even suspended by his party and investigations are conducted at glacial speed, by which time offenders have invariably moved back to civvy street.
There is a raunch culture in Westminster compounded by its subsidised bars.
This week, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said closing parliament’s bars in a bid to tackle a culture of sexual misconduct would be “excessively puritanical”
He said people were working long hours in a really intense environment.
The sense of privilege in his statement is nauseating.
Why the hell are taxpayers who can’t afford their heating subsidising well-paid MPs to get p****d and offensive?
Now it has emerged a “Sexist of the Year” award was allegedly handed out at a lockdown-breaking Downing Street Christmas party.
The prize was reportedly presented during a mock ceremony at an illegal gathering at No10 in December 2020.
The competition for that one must have been tough.
It was Bryant who suggested regular training for all MPs in “best practice as an employer.”
But Neil Parish, Imran Ahmad Khan, Charlie Elphicke and all the other wayward MPs know their behaviour is unacceptable without having to complete a module on the topic.
Serious sanctions and action is needed, not another box ticking exercise.
The ghastly “Queen of Mean” Anne Robinson is leaving her hosting gig at Countdown and a few of us set the timer for that good news.
There are rumours of a rift between Robinson and the respective human calculators and lexicons of Rachel Riley and Susie Dent.
What could it be in these gorgeous, smart young women Robinson finds irksome?
She apparently ordered the sound engineers to turn the volume off on Riley’s microphone before shows, so she didn’t have to listen to her.
Robinson said she needed silence to prepare, as though she was about to do brain surgery instead bitching from behind a desk.
Robinson likes young women to shut up and put up.
In response to the #MeToo movement, Robinson accused young women of being “wusses” and protested that she “didn’t run crying to the loo” if a man “tried to pat my bum.”
We don’t need Dictionary Corner to tell us Robinson is the very definition of an ego-maniac.
When Robinson took over Countdown, she said her acerbic personality would be the perfect contrast with the cosiness of the programme.
She said: “It’s like strawberries and cream.”
Yeah, for the lactose intolerant maybe.
