Pressure is mounting on Rishi Sunak to reveal what he and senior Tories knew about claims of rape and sexual assault made against one of his backbench MPs.
Labour’s Jess Phillips has called on the prime minister to suspend the senior backbencher, who was referred to police by his own colleagues, saying Mr Sunak should not be a “bystander”.
The Prospect union, which represents parliamentary staff, also expressed concerns the politician was still free to visit the House of Commons “and interact with staff despite these very serious allegations”.
The politician was reported to the Metropolitan Police at the end of October by a group of Conservative MPs acting as a so-called ‘third party’.
But senior Conservatives are alleged to have known about the claims for as long as two years.
The allegations were also probed by lawyers brought in by the Tory party, according to The Sun, which broke the story with broadcasters TalkTV.
The MP still holds the Conservative whip and has not been suspended by party chiefs.
Mr Sunak has backed the extraordinary decision by Tory MPs to report one of their own colleagues to police and his spokesman said it was “right” that the allegations had been reported.
But Ms Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, told The Independent that the prime minister “should say what he knew and when and what he did about it”.
“Don’t be a bystander Rishi Sunak, that’s what I’d say,” she added, a reference to a high-profile Home Office campaign to combat sexual harassment.
She also said there was no reason the MP should not be suspended, dismissing claims that would identify them as a red herring.
“Of all victims I have worked with across parties, everyone was fine with the MP being identified,” she said.
She added: “It is unfathomable to me that now two Tory MPs are being investigated by police for sexual offences and retain the whip,” referring to another MP who has been banned from parliament while under investigation for rape and sexual assault claims.
Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect union, said: “This MP remains free to visit the House of Commons and interact with staff despite these very serious allegations. This highlights yet again that there is no fit-for-purpose process in place to deal with this type of case and make Parliament a safe place to work.
“The Commons Commission is finally looking into excluding MPs from parliament when they are under investigation for this kind of thing – that inquiry needs to be expedited.”
He added: “The report that another MP has been accused of sexual offences raises important questions as to who knew what when, and what have they done about it.”
A source said those questions were for the Tory party and its current and former leaders to answer.
The allegations emerged a day after The Sun reported that a former Tory MP had been arrested in June 2021 for alleged historic sex crimes.
That file has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which is set to make a decision on whether to lay charges.
