Another MP caught acting inappropriately. As the cycle grows, we should fear the return of 'Pestminster'
As women's rights are being diminished in the United States, remember the shame that the 2017 sex scandals brought on Westminster and British democracy. In 2022, a repeat is entirely plausible.
When the news arrived last night that Chris Pincher - the government’s Deputy Chief Whip - had resigned over inappropriate conduct, I muttered a loud sigh. I recalled Brenda from Bristol during the 2017 general election campaign who, when hearing Theresa May had called an early snap election, proffered: ‘You’re joking - not another one!’ It does feel surreal right now as, each week, we find ourselves engulfed in stories around inappropriate conduct from our parliamentary representatives, whom we supposedly trust with the decision-making for us. The 2017 Westminster sex scandals did grave damage to the workings of the parliamentary estate but one positive thing, if there was one, was that it raised the power of victims and complainants to be listened to and to come forward in the beginning. Five years later, I feel a sudden deleterious feeling of that same dark period returning all over again. Some may argue that the sheer volume in 2017 was different - I would agree - but the volume, here in 2022, is unquestionably increasing.
Chris Pincher’s resignation letter to the prime minister was rather misleading: in it, he says “Last night I drank far too much.” Clearly, but failing to mention the groping of two men as well speaks volumes, especially to Boris Johnson who seems enviably immaculate at dismissing pertinent warnings.
Just a week ago, we saw by-election defeats for the Conservative party: in Wakefield, caused by the resignation of Imran Ahmad Khan after being convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in 2008. In Tiverton and Honiton after Neil Parish was found to have watched pornography in the Commons chamber. If these weren’t damaging enough, keeping Chris Pincher in the Tory party just seems disastrous; it sticks two fingers up to the two men who Pincher groped and to Alex Story, a former Tory candidate who raised alarming concerns about Pincher’s behaviour in 2017 but such concerns were fatally ignored. How long can this line honestly hold for Boris Johnson?
It is an unbelievable yet unsurprising reality that Chris Pincher, (now) former Deputy Chief Whip, someone in charge of maintaining Conservative party discipline was found to have done such things. This doesn’t just damage the Conservative party (not that I massively care), but more fundamentally damages the ability of suffering victims of inappropriate and improper conduct to come forward and ensure that they face justice. Also, it damages Parliament. MPs are privileged individuals, trusted with the responsibility of making decisions on their constituents’ behalf. But, if they can’t be trusted to responsibly behave, then they frankly shouldn’t be trusted to represent their constituents one jot.
Apply this logic to another role, profession or employer - try our undervalued doctors in the NHS or our underfunded teachers: just imagine if a primary school teacher or a GP had been seriously drunk and had groped two fellow staff members, a sacking would rightly be issued from the relevant institution. Never mind being suspended from your job, but sacked right there on the spot. But, if you’re an MP, being given the green light is often the result - a notable problem with the ways our society functions where the powerful simply get away with it.
On the opposition benches in the Commons, the SNP face questions over its role in the case of Patrick Grady, its former Chief Whip, who has been accused of sexual assault. Even more troubling, audio recordings have emerged of the SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, urging his parliamentary colleagues to support Grady throughout the police investigation. Nicola Sturgeon has dubbed this ‘utterly unacceptable’.
‘Pestminster’ is not something that has happened and thus will never return; it is an emboldening prospect of what might come thereafter. Our mother of all parliaments is a symbol of democracy’s power and the ability of our representatives to stand up on our behalf. For some on the green benches of all stripes, however, their behaviour has left them in impropriety and inappropriacy from top to bottom. We need to root out those whose behaviour is dragging down the reputation of our parliament; without doing so, without a shadow of a doubt, we risk facing ‘Pestminster’ 2.0 all over again.