When an MP is accused of sexual misconduct – and it happens rather a lot these days – we tend to ask the wrong question. What is it about Westminster, we ask, that turns people into sexual predators? This rarely produces satisfying answers.
The most common response – often from colleagues of the accused – is that it is something to do with stress, alcohol and informal working arrangements. After an unnamed Tory MP was arrested on 17 May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault offences, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace went on Times Radio to blame Westminster’s frequent scandals on the “overall culture” of “working long hours in a place with bars”, where people were “under lots of pressure for all sorts of reasons”. The Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has similarly put Pestminster down to being a “really intense environment”, with “long hours”. Others point out that victims often fear making formal complaints about perpetrators, in case it impacts their careers.
Content from our partners
