UK Politician Resigns After Watching Porn in Parliament

MAY 1 2022·Updated SEP 19 2022

Story

Image credit: Richard Townsend/UK Parliament/AFP/Getty [via The New York Post]

The Facts

Conservative MP, Neil Parish, resigned from his role on Sat. after admitting he watched pornography in the House of Commons chamber.
Al Jazeera
The chairman of the House's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said he was attempting to access a tractor website when he found the adult content by mistake. However, he visited the site for a second time intentionally.
NBC
Parish was caught looking at the material by two female colleagues who filed a formal complaint against him.
New York Post
He resigned less than 24 hrs after declaring he wouldn't leave his seat unless a party investigation found him guilty. Reportedly fearing voter backlash in the upcoming local elections on Thurs., Tory MPs encouraged him to leave his post.
New York Post
Parish made a full apology and rejected the idea he had intended to intimidate anyone with his actions.
Al Jazeera
The revelations have prompted a flood of complaints over sexual harassment and misogyny in Parliament.
NBC

Sources Split

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CENTER

RIGHT

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The Spin

Left narrative

The Tory party's resistance to taking disciplinary action against misbehaving MPs has facilitated a rampant culture of misogyny and harassment in Parliament. Working practices in Westminster are in dire need of overhaul to ensure that perpetrators of abusive and sexualized behavior are held to account.

guardian

Right narrative

The Conservative Party are committed to tackling Westminster sleaze and are taking significant steps to ensure that half of their MPs returned in the next election will be women. Achieving equal gender representation in the Commons will transform a culture in which women are "tolerated" to one in which they are, rightly, valued.

The Telegraph

Cynical narrative

The raging culture of misogyny in Westminster isn't party specific. More than 50 MPs are facing complaints of sexual misconduct, and examples of inappropriate and exploitative behavior have been seen on both sides of the chamber. From patronizing and derogatory comments, to older MPs asking young researchers to "sit on their knee", it's no wonder women are calling time on the climate of discrimination at the heart of UK politics.