LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Closing the bars of the parliament in an attempt to combat an atmosphere of sexual misconduct on the estate would be “excessively puritanical,” according to Kwasi Kwarteng.
The business secretary spoke on Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday programme that despite worries about excessive drinking on the parliamentary estate, the pubs should not be closed.
“No, they shouldn’t all be closed,” he added. He didn’t think they should have an overly puritanical draconian policy in that sense, he said.
Mr Kwarteng also confessed that the process set up in 2018 for dealing with sexual misconduct complaints in parliament wasn’t operating sufficiently well and that it needed time to really get moving.
In parliament, MP was caught watching pornography twice.
It comes after a member of Parliament announced his intention to quit after confessing to browsing pornography in the Commons.
Neil Parish admitted to watching adult content twice in parliament, claiming the first time was by accident while browsing tractors on the internet, and the second time was “a moment of madness.”
Kwarteng dismisses allegations of a misogynistic atmosphere at Westminster.
The issue comes as Westminster faces allegations of misogyny and sexual misconduct.
When asked if culture of misogyny prevailed at Westminster on Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday, Mr Kwarteng dismissed the allegation.
He stated, he believed the issue they face was that individuals work in a very demanding atmosphere with long hours, and he believed that most people understood their boundaries and how to act responsibly.
However, there were some occasions where people did not act in accordance with the high standards.
He believes Neil (Parish) had done the right thing. He had done something that would get him fired in most other professions, and he freely quit, despite the fact that he thinks his position was extremely challenging, he said.
Over the problem, Starmer calls for “political leadership.”
Sir Keir Starmer, on the other hand, called for a behavioural and cultural shift in Westminster to combat sleaze and sexual misconduct.
They needed to listen to women, and he had spoken to a number of women in the last few days, and they were very clear that while there was need for culture change, those who were engaged in that sort of activity, whether it was comments about Angela Rayner or watching porn in the House of Commons, had to take responsibility, the Labour leader said on Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday programme.
He also demanded “political leadership,” claiming that when a Conservative colleague is in trouble, ministers’ first reaction was to push it out into the deep grass, hide what was going on, and that was a political problem because the fish rotted from the head.
They needed to listen to women, and he had spoken to a number of women in the last few days, and they were very clear that while there was need for culture change, those who were engaged in that sort of activity, whether it was comments about Angela Rayner or watching porn in the House of Commons, had to take responsibility, the Labour leader said on Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday programme.
