London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Tory MP will not attend Parliament while police investigate rape allegations, says Speaker

Tory MP will not attend Parliament while police investigate rape allegations, says Speaker

The Conservative MP accused of rape and sexual assault will not attend Parliament while police carry out their investigation, the Speaker has said.

The unnamed man in his 50s was arrested on Tuesday over allegations dating back to between 2002 and 2009.

He has been released on bail to a date in mid-June pending further enquiries.

Labour is calling on the Conservatives to suspend the man from the parliamentary party, meaning his identity would become public.

A spokesman for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a "matter for the Conservative Party" but that the "nature of the allegations" meant it "doesn't seem to be sustainable to argue that he shouldn't be suspended from the whip".

The spokesman added that removing the whip would "inevitably" mean the individual would be named publicly.

He confirmed that Sir Keir would suspend a Labour MP if they were facing the same allegations.

The man is not being named by media outlets.

The police do not usually name individuals until they are charged and Parliament is not required to identify MPs who've been arrested.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court strengthened the right to privacy for people who are under investigation but have not been charged.


Speaker's warning


A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the vast majority of MPs behaved appropriately, but added the behaviour of a minority was "not acceptable".

In a Commons statement, Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he took "the safety of our staff and parliamentary community as a whole very seriously".

Sir Lindsay also warned MPs against naming the individual in the Commons chamber, saying he believed it would be "wholly inappropriate for any further reference to be made to this matter in the House".

The Conservatives confirmed on Tuesday that their chief whip had asked the MP to stay away from the parliamentary estate during the police inquiry.

Labour's shadow Home Office minister Jess Phillips said there were difficulties about an individual being named.

"If I was a constituent in this MP's or any of the previous cases of MPs' constituencies, I might feel I had a right to know.

"Because there's nothing that can stop them seeing their constituents completely in private, completely on their own...I might want to empower myself to make that decision.

"But that is a finely balanced thing and what you don't want is trial by media."

In a statement on Wednesday, the Met said: "In January 2020, the Met received a report relating to alleged sexual offences having been committed between 2002 and 2009.

"The offences are alleged to have occurred in London.

"An investigation is ongoing, led by officers from Central Specialist Crime.

"A man, aged in his 50s, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office.

"He was taken into custody and has since been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-June."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×