• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Tory MP – who breached sexual misconduct rules – has received appropriate punishment, says PM

He faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks.

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2021-05-26 16:37
in Politics
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Boris Johnson has insisted disgraced MP Rob Roberts received an appropriate punishment for breaching sexual misconduct rules.

Mr Roberts, who represents Delyn, faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks after he made repeated unwanted advances to a member of staff.

He has been stripped of the Tory whip but the way recall laws are drawn up means he cannot face the prospect of losing his seat.

The sanction was proposed by the panel set up in 2020 to deal with cases raised under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.

But the Recall of Parliament Act was passed in 2015 and only allows the prospect of a by-election for sanctions imposed on the recommendation of the Commons Committee on Standards.

Prime Minister Mr Johnson was challenged by Labour MP Gerald Jones to introduce emergency measures to close the loophole within the existing rules, something the Government had earlier pledged to do.

Undated handout UK Parliament official portrait of Rob Roberts, Conservative MP for Delyn. Mr Roberts faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks after the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found he broke Parliament’s sexual misconduct policy by making repeated and unwanted sexual advances towards the man who made the complaint. Issue date: Tuesday May 25, 2021.

Mr Johnson told Mr Jones he would “take that point very seriously” before adding in the Commons: “If he is referring to a Conservative member who has recently had the whip taken away, he can take it that that member has already had condign punishment.”

At this stage, one Labour MP could be heard shouting “six weeks”, a nod to the punishment recommended for Mr Roberts.

Cabinet minister Grant Shapps earlier said the loophole in Mr Roberts’ case needed to be closed.

RelatedPosts

Reform’s membership ‘falls by almost 10,000 in a month’

Putin’s ice-cold response to Trump threat to ‘bomb the sh*t out of Moscow’

“They were lied to”: Lee Anderson tells MP to ‘shut up’ while big boss Farage asks about Brexit at PMQs

Keir Starmer shuts down Kemi Badenoch with brutal one word answer in PMQs

The Transport Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This has gone through a new independent process and doesn’t have the same rules about the so-called recall process which is where constituents can essentially call for an election.

“Although it’s a decision for the House of Commons, I rather agree that this loophole does need to be closed.”

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg “will be saying more about the lack of recall provision”, he added.

“This should not have the exemption from recall just because it has gone through this newly independent process and I know the Leader of the House intends to come forward and say more about it.”

Rees-Mogg

Mr Rees-Mogg will invite the “relevant bodies” to consider whether the laws need to be changed to enable the recall process to be triggered.

A Government spokesman said: “A case of this severity highlights the need to look again at whether the process is striking the right balance between protecting the confidentiality of complainants and ensuring consistency with other types of conduct cases.

“The central aim of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme is to help improve the working culture of Parliament and it will need to continue to evolve and improve over time.

“The Leader of the House will invite the relevant bodies to consider whether any changes could be made in future to the process to enable recall to be triggered.”

MPs need to approve the six-week suspension.

Had a suspension of a fortnight, or 10 working days, been imposed on the recommendation of the Commons Committee on Standards the threshold for a recall petition would have been met.

Once a petition is open if 10% of eligible voters in a constituency sign it then a by-election is triggered.

Labour MP Chris Bryant, chairman of the Committee on Standards, said it was a “glaring anomaly” that the recall process was not triggered by a sanction recommended by the Independent Expert Panel.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is fundamentally a decision for the House of Commons, but a case of this severity has raised questions around whether changes need to be made in order for a recall to be triggered in the future.

“So the Leader of the House of Commons is going to be having conversations across the House over the next few days urging them to consider what more can be done to improve the system.”

Related: PMQs, 26th May: Cummings’ inside job ‘absolutely fu*ked’ the Downing Street Garden heist

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← Cummings confirms: Boris Johnson did say ‘let the bodies piles high’ ← Beer of the Week: Small Beer Summer of ’21 Organic IPA
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->