As No 10 admitted that Boris Johnson knew about allegations against Chris Pincher before he made him deputy chief, the FDA and Prospect said politicians have time and again failed to “deal properly with sexual misconduct by one of their own”. The unions, which represent more than 1,000 parliamentary workers, jointly wrote to Lindsey Hoyle, the Speaker, calling on parliament to take action following the scandal involving Pincher, who resigned last week after reports he drunkenly beat two men in private London members club. More allegations have since emerged involving Pincher, which he denies, and following five previous sexual harassment scandals involving Tory MPs in this parliament, pressure has been put on Johnson to clean up his party’s culture. These include Neil Parish, who watched pornography in the Commons. Imran Ahmad Khan was convicted of sexually assaulting a child. and David Warburton, who is under investigation by the parliamentary watchdog over three allegations of sexual misconduct against women, which he denies. An unnamed Tory MP was also arrested last month on suspicion of rape and other sexual offences, while Tory MP Rob Roberts suspended the whip after an independent investigation found he had sexually harassed a junior member of staff. Johnson has been under continued pressure over the Pincher case after his spokesman admitted on Monday that he was aware of general speculation before promoting the MP to deputy chief whip in charge of peer welfare in February. Despite last week saying the prime minister was not aware of “specific” allegations, No 10 admitted Johnson was aware of concerns about Pincher which “have either been resolved or not progressed to a formal complaint”. Former Conservative whips told the Guardian they knew as early as 2017 that Pincher occasionally drank too much and had been warned not to get into trouble. He left the whip’s office in November 2017 after former rower Alex Storey claimed he made unwanted sex cards – and was later cleared by an internal investigation. In light of the Pincher scandal and the arrest of a Tory MP who had not suspended the whip, the FDA and Prospect called on Hoyle to act by looking at reforming parliament’s approach to sexual harassment at his forthcoming speaker’s conference – a forum for rethinking how the Commons works. They highlighted Labor MP Luke Pollard’s comments that parliament was “not a safe place to work” and the “seemingly endless list of allegations of sexual harassment by MPs”. Contact Guardian Politics “Political parties of all stripes have proven time and time again that they cannot be properly trusted with sexual harassment by one of their own,” wrote Dave Penman, general secretary of the FSA, and Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect. “If the parties do not act, then Parliament must, taking a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct by MPs and taking seriously its responsibility to provide a safe workplace for those who work there.” They said parliament has suffered “significant damage to its reputation as a result of numerous incidents of alleged sexual misconduct and misogyny perpetrated by politicians against parliamentary staff, voters and others, including fellow MPs”, which have been exacerbated by revelations about Pincher, a government deputy chief whip. They said it was extremely important that parliament had shown a “lack of engagement” over these scandals, asking: “Does Parliament, as an employer and public institution, have a view on the current crisis of misconduct and sexual misconduct? Does Parliament have concerns that the potential risks to those who work and visit the estate are not being adequately addressed by political parties and government? Does Parliament believe it has the powers it needs to deal with breaches of ethics and standards by MPs, while the parties do not?’ Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST They argued that the speaker’s conference remit, agreed by the Commons last week, should be broad enough to consider whether existing governance within parliament remained fit for purpose, and to look in particular at parliament’s inability to exclude members of parliament who are under investigation for sexual harassment from their property. They also called for bullying and sexual misconduct training to be made compulsory for all MPs. The conference, made up of a committee of MPs, is currently only planned to deal with the employment arrangements of MPs’ staff, reviewing current working practices and conditions. After the #MeToo scandal in Westminster, which toppled several ministers, parliament introduced an independent whistle-blowing scheme that allowed victims to submit allegations of sexual harassment and bullying to an independent investigator. But political parties have since used the ICGS as an excuse not to carry out their own inquiries and Jess Phillips, the Home Office’s shadow home secretary, has warned that there is too much of a burden on victims to make formal complaints. The scheme also only covers those working in parliament and not alleged victims outside Westminster. Hoyle’s office has been approached for comment.
