Prospect and FDA demand information sharing when MPs are under investigation for serious misconduct
Prospect and the FDA have written to leaders of the four largest parties asking them to consider a formal protocol of information sharing so that when an MP is accused of serious misconduct, Parliament is able to properly assess whether that individual poses a risk to staff and other people on the estate.
The letter follows reports that the Conservative Party received allegations of a sexual nature about one of its sitting MPs, but that MP did not have the whip withdrawn and was free to visit Westminster. There was also a case with a Labour MP who had been under investigation by the party but no one external was informed.
There is currently no formal process whereby if a party receives allegations they can share them with the relevant authorities, as would happen in a normal workplace. This potentially puts thousands of staff and visitors, and indeed other MPs, at risk.
The letter says:
The Mail on Sunday reported that attempts had been made by the Conservative Party to allegedly control or minimise allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape, against one of its MPs. It is clear that repeated institutional failures of the party’s internal investigatory processes alarmed senior colleagues of the MP to the extent that they felt compelled to contact the police.
Equally importantly from our perspective, this failure allowed the alleged perpetrator to continue to attend Westminster
And suggests a solution which is asks party leaders to back:
Parliament needs a new approach to information sharing with the political parties that both maintains the confidentiality that is so crucial in these investigations, while permitting the limited sharing of information, for example with the Speaker, the Clerk of the House of Commons and the Director of Parliamentary Security, that would allow precautionary measures to be put in place to protect all staff and visitors to Parliament.
