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I’ve been groped by five male MPs, says Parliament’s standards chief Chris Bryant
Labour MP for Rhondda says he has been ‘regularly touched up’, with one member – still in the House – pushing him against a wall
A senior Labour MP has claimed in a book that he has been repeatedly groped by male politicians during his time in Parliament.
Sir Chris Bryant, the head of the Standards Committee, said five MPs had “felt my bottom uninvited”.
He also said there had been an incident where someone pushed him up against a wall and grabbed his crotch.
Sir Chris makes the allegations in his new book, Code of Conduct, in which he discusses the need to clean up Parliament.
“Over the years five male MPs have felt my bottom uninvited,” he wrote.
“One of them, who was not out, did so repeatedly. Another who is still in the House and still does not accept that he is gay, pushed me against a wall and felt my crotch.”
Asked for clarification by The Telegraph, Sir Chris confirmed the allegations concerned five people in total, whom he did not identify.
‘We’re human beings too’
The 61-year-old, who is openly gay, has previously claimed he was “regularly touched up” by older MPs when he first entered Parliament, but never felt he was able to report it because he did not want to become “part of the story”.
Speaking to LBC last year, he added: “I think a lot of women have been through that.
“I’m glad to say that some of the homophobia we saw back in those days has gone, but I think some of the racism and misogyny is certainly still around in Parliament, and things are said in Parliament which maybe in other places wouldn’t be said.
“It’s true that we’re all pretty robust people, we’ve all got pretty thick hides, but nonetheless we’re human beings too.”
In remarks quoted by the i newspaper, Sir Chris, who has been a vocal proponent of the need to eradicate “sleaze” from the corridors of Westminster, claimed that the UK’s political system is plagued by a “winner-takes-it-all” mentality.
He admitted that there had been occasions where he had got his “facts wrong” and the “whirligig of politics has spun so fast I haven’t corrected the record”, and said he can be “impulsive, sanctimonious and pompous”.
But he suggested MPs should aspire to be “good enough”, rather than perfect.