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May and Corbyn agree new grievance system for Westminster staff Labour urges May to treat sexual harassment consistently across parties
(35 minutes later)
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have agreed to introduce a new grievance procedure for parliamentary staff and face-to-face human resources support in an “important step forward” amid allegations of sexual misconduct at Westminster, according to a statement. Labour has urged Theresa May to ensure the same punishments are meted out to MPs on both sides of the House of Commons as the sexual harassment scandal in Westminster escalates.
The prime minister said earlier on Monday that she wanted a cross-party approach to overhauling complaints procedures, after allegations emerged about senior Conservative and Labour politicians, leading to the resignation of the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, the suspension of multiple MPs and investigations into her deputy, Damian Green. Dawn Butler, Labour’s shadow equalities minister, raised the issue with the prime minister at a cross-party summit in parliament on Monday to discuss how to respond to the crisis.
She also said she had been made aware of more issues that were not yet in the public domain. A series of allegations in recent days have led to Michael Fallon’s resignation as defence minister, and seen the whip suspended from Dover MP Charlie Elphicke after allegations were reported to the police.
Speaking after a meeting of party leaders in her parliamentary office, May said: “Sadly, over recent days, we have seen a number of allegations about figures from across the political parties and it’s important that those are investigated impartially, and some have rightly been referred to the police. But Butler pointed out that neither Stephen Crabb, who apologised for engaging in “sexual chatter” with a woman who applied for a job in his office, nor trade minister Mark Garnier, who admitted asking an assistant to buy sex toys, have been suspended while their cases are investigated.
“I think if this hasn’t happened to you it’s difficult to appreciate the impact that being a victim of this sort of behaviour can have. We need to do more to stop these abuses of power and I’m pleased that having convened this meeting of party leaders today we have agreed a way forward. Damian Green, the first secretary of state, also remains in his post while allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances to the journalist Kate Maltby are investigated.
“We are going to ensure that there’s an upgrade to the existing phone line for staff so that staff in future will be able to get face-to-face HR support and for that to be in place by the end of the month. And we’ve also agreed that we need a completely new grievance procedure for staff working here, for everybody working here, and that that should come into effect in the new year.” Butler said the meeting had shown that May took the issue of sexual harassment seriously; but it was important to ensure all parties applied sanctions consistently.
May was asked to “categorically” state that she had known nothing about any allegations that have come to the fore after the Harvey Weinstein scandal. “It’s important for the accuser, because if you accuse somebody of something it’s important that you know what will happen to them as a result; and it’s important if you are the person who’s accused,” she said.
She replied: “The allegations that have come to the fore in the last week I have been made aware of over that time period because of things that have appeared in the press but also allegations that I’ve been told over the last week in private. What is important is that we come together here in parliament, as leaders of parties have done today, to say that we need to bring an end to this abuse of power.” Labour has suspended two MPs – Kelvin Hopkins and Jared O’Mara – over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. A third, Clive Lewis, is also being investigated after an activist claimed he grabbed her bottom.
May’s de facto deputy, Damian Green, is being interviewed as part of a Cabinet Office investigation that has been expanded to include claims that pornography was found on one of his parliamentary computers in 2008. Green, the first secretary of state, has strongly denied the claims. At Monday’s meeting, the party leaders agreed to set up a cross-party working group to consider how to strengthen protections for parliamentary staff; and to beef up human resources support for MPs.
The Green party leader, Caroline Lucas, told the Guardian the summit had been “broadly constructive and helpful”, with a common agreement on the need for urgent action.
However, Lucas said there had been some resistance to her proposal for parliament to directly employ MPs’ staff, rather than the politicians themselves being ultimately responsible. “At the moment, there is not support for that, which I did feel was disappointing. I think it’s really clear that 650 MPs are not qualified employers,” she said.
Lucas said though there had been broad support for MPs to be given management training, that had not been widened to include consent. “It’s quite clear some MPs do not get that,” she said. “It’s something I want to continue to raise in the forum.”
In the agenda for the meeting, May had proposed upgrading the current support for staff, changing the telephone hotline for staff to report abuse to an in-person HR support, as well as a new independent grievance process. Lucas said she and others had pressed to ensure the new process would include constituency staff and anyone working on the parliamentary estate, such as agency cleaners.
“The devil will be in the detail,” Lucas said. “The meeting was short and we did not get into much of the detail. One of my ongoing concerns with the independent grievance process and with the working process is that we should be making sure we are building in ways of getting advice from specialists in sexual violence, so we are guided by that. It’s important we recognise there is expertise outside of parliament we should be drawing on.”
The Liberal Democrat’s leader, Vince Cable, called the proposals “the right first cross-party steps” but said the complaints system must be robustly independent. His deputy, Jo Swinson, who also attended the talks, said she hoped the summit would be the start of a change in Westminster.
Earlier in the day, May defended her approach to the sexual harassment scandal, saying she has been made aware of more issues that were not yet in the public domain. Speaking at the CBI annual conference, May said changes were not about trying to regulate people’s personal lives.
“Of course people can be friends with their colleagues and consensual relationships can develop at work – this isn’t about prying into private lives,” she said. “What we are talking about is the use and abuse of power.
“Those working for members of parliament should not have to navigate different party systems depending on their employer’s political affiliation.”
However, during the Q&A session following the speech, May swerved a question over whether she was aware of the complaints and of inappropriate behaviour in Westminster before last week.
“Obviously what has happened is over the last week a number of stories have appeared in the press,” she said. “A number of issues were raised with me that didn’t appear in the press. And, as you have seen, action has been taken.”
In his own speech to business leaders later at the same conference, Corbyn said workplaces beyond parliament needed to examine if they had the right structures in place to support victims. “All of you need to look hard at yourselves, as we in the Labour party are doing ourselves, to see how your processes and procedures can be improved.
“How it can be made easier for women to speak out and for victims to get the support they have a right to expect.”
Labour has suspended Hopkins and O’Mara over allegations of inappropriate behaviour, and the party is believed to be dealing with several other potential cases. It has also launched a formal investigation into claims that Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, squeezed a female activist’s bottom at the Labour conference.
On Sunday night, the Conservative MP Chris Pincher “voluntarily stood down” from the whips’ office and referred himself to the party’s complaints procedure and the police following an allegation about his behaviour.
Two other Tory MPs, Dan Poulter and Daniel Kawczynski, were referred to the party’s new internal party disciplinary system, it was announced on Sunday.
Crabb, the former pensions secretary, was referred on Saturday after admitting he sent suggestive text messages to a teenager, while Elphicke, the MP for Dover, has been suspended from the party.