UK minister is accused of watching porn in the House of Commons

The ruling Conservative Party in the United Kingdom has asked for a probe into the issue of a senior minister who reportedly saw pornography on his cell phone while sitting in the House of Commons.

According to a statement from his spokeswoman, the party’s top whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, has requested that the incident be brought to Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. According to the statement, he will take the necessary measures once the ICGS investigation is completed.

The minister was seated next to a female member while seeing the footage during a meeting a few months ago, a UK-based newspaper reported.

The probe request comes amid a flurry of debate in Westminster over sexual harassment and bigotry. According to the Sunday Times, three of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet members are among 56 MPs facing sexual misconduct charges and have been submitted to Parliament’s ICGS. Johnson’s party has also received criticism following a story in the Mail on Sunday that unnamed Conservative MPs made sexist remarks against Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner.

“Of course, sexual harassment is abhorrent, and it’s entirely appropriate that members should now have a system by which they can bring it to the House authorities,” Johnson said when questioned about the topic in the Commons on Wednesday. “Of certainly, it is cause for dismissal.”

Johnson also stated on Wednesday that there was “absolutely no place for such conduct or speech” in regards to Rayner’s statements, and that MPs should treat each other with more respect.

A heightened focus on Conservative wrongdoing is a further blow for Johnson, who became the first serving prime minister to be judged to have breached the law when he was punished for violating lockdown regulations. The bad publicity is also a setback for the Conservatives ahead of local elections on May 5, where a poor showing may reignite calls for Johnson’s resignation from Conservative backbenchers.

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