By Ben Kerrigan-
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has described the porn-watching by an Mp allegations exposed in West as “totally unacceptable”.
It follows calls for the MP who is accused of watching pornography in the House of Commons to quit and to be named and shamed.
In what has been a terrible month for Mps as far as bad publicity goes, the prime minister condemned the act of porn watching in parliament, and called for the proper procedures to be followed.
During a visit to Burnley, Mr Johnson told broadcasters: “What needs to happen now is that the proper procedures need to be gone through, the independent complaints and grievances procedure needs to be activated and we need to get to understand the facts but, yeah, that kind of behaviour is clearly totally unacceptable.”
The male MP in question ‘has to resign’, she told Times Radio, saying the individual was causing ‘pain, suffering & embarrassment’ to the Conservative Party and to Parliament.
Former minister Caroline Nokes has accused the chief whip of avoiding addressing the issue, and said the whip should have been suspended already.
Chief whipp, Mr Heaton-Harris called for the independent investigation after the porn-watching allegations surfaced during a meeting of Tory MPs at Westminster on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Mr Heaton-Harris said: “Following allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the House of Commons, the chief whip has asked that this matter be referred to the ICGS.
“Upon the conclusion of any ICGS investigation the chief whip will take appropriate action.”
Actions in cases like these are0 normally decided by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP), which would also hear any appeal.
The IEP could recommend sanctions including expulsion from the Commons or a suspension – which could potentially trigger a by-election under the recall process if it is for longer than 10 sitting days.
Only witnesses to the pornography-viewing could make a complaint about the MP under the ICGS.
Attorney General Suella Braverman said if the subject of the complaint was found to have been watching adult material it should result in them “no longer holding their privileged position as a Member of Parliament”.
The minister told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour if the claims were found to be true, the whip should be removed – “I’m ashamed this person is carrying a Conservative rosette” – and the MP could be expelled or subjected to a recall process.
The claims about pornography followed reports that 56 MPs, including three Cabinet ministers, are facing allegations of sexual misconduct referred to the ICGS.