Gay men ‘most vulnerable’ to abuse in Parliament, says Tory committee chief – The Telegraph

Gay men are the “most vulnerable” to abuse in Parliament, the Tory chair of the women and equalities select committee has said.

While female victims of harassment are more likely to win sympathy, it is in fact their male counterparts who often struggle the most, according to Caroline Nokes MP.

“I’m convinced that sexual harassment is not about sex, it’s about the exploitation of power from one individual over another,” she said.

“And we absolutely have to redress that imbalance and make sure that young people working in Parliament, women working in Parliament, young gay men – I sometimes think that they are the most vulnerable – that we give them a mechanism where they know that they’re going to be protected.”

Victims of harassment

Her comments follow a series of incidents in the Commons where young men have been victims of harassment.

In July, the former deputy chief whip was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London.

Chris Pincher was suspended from the Conservative Party and promised to “fully co-operate” with an investigation into his behaviour, saying he “drank far too much” on the evening in question and apologised for “embarrassing myself and others”.

And in a separate incident earlier this year, an allegation of rape against a Tory MP was made by another male politician, 20 years his junior.

The MP was arrested on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault, as well as abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office. The alleged sexual offences are reported to have been committed between 2002 and 2009, according to the Metropolitan Police.

‘Still a taboo around homosexuality’

 Asked why she feels gay young men are the most vulnerable, Ms Nokes explained: “Because people don’t talk about it. And I think that there is still a taboo around homosexuality.

“And there have been some cases where I can think of individuals who’ve harassed both male and female members of staff, and the female member of staff has had all the sympathy, all of the column inches in the press and there’ll be this ‘and also’ when it comes to the young gay man. I think that that’s a really fascinating insight into how our psychology still works around homosexuality.”

Ms Nokes, a former Cabinet Office minister, made the comments in an interview with GB News’s Gloria De Piero, which is due to be broadcast on Sunday evening.

She said that some men are “still afraid of coming out”, adding: “So that worries me to a huge extent, that there are still young men who are absolutely terrified of coming forward.”

New rules needed

Ms Nokes has called for a review into the way incidents are investigated and said new rules are needed to punish those responsible.

“I’ve long said we should have a much tighter system of discipline, codes of conduct, that the whips from the different political parties should work together to make sure that everybody understands what the rules are,” she said.

“If you’re the electorate you have put faith in us to be your elected representative, there is currently no mechanism that can be used to stop you from going into that place. I think that’s wrong.

“I think everybody wants to see something much more restrictive so that when you’ve got people who have been charged with serious sexual offences, is it right that we can’t stop them from coming into Parliament?”

Power to ban MPs

On Friday it emerged that the House of Commons could be given the power to formally ban MPs from Parliament if they are charged with violent or sexual assault. 

Under plans being considered by the Commons’ managing body, MPs charged with those offences could also be banned from parliamentary-funded travel. 

At the moment, MPs who face claims of sexual assault usually enter into an informal agreement with their party whip and the Commons Speaker to stay away from Parliament, but there is no means of enforcing it. 

The House of Commons Commission will consult on the new proposals before taking a decision early next year, according to the minutes of its latest meeting.

The full interview with Caroline Nokes will be broadcast at 6pm on Sunday on Gloria De Piero’s Gloria Meets show on GB News.