“Conversations are going on” on whether to create powers to bar MPs who are under investigation from Parliament, House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said on Thursday.
It comes after a Conservative MP was bailed after being arrested over allegations including rape.
The Metropolitan Police said in January 2020 it “received a report relating to alleged sexual offences having been committed between 2002 and 2009.”
It confirmed on Tuesday that the MP, who is in his 50s, remained in custody after being arrested on suspicion of “indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust, and misconduct in public office.” The force said on Wednesday that the MP had been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-June.
The Met didn’t identify the MP, in line with College of Policing guidance that says the identity of suspects normally shouldn’t be disclosed before they are charged.
Hoyle also discouraged MPs from attempting to name the Tory MP at the centre of the allegations while the investigation is ongoing.
The MP has agreed to stay away from Parliament during the investigation following a request from Conservative Party Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris, but Labour Party shadow home office minister Jess Phillips has argued on Wednesday that it “simply isn’t good enough” to be “relying on people’s good nature.”
Asked if the MP should stay away from Parliament, the speaker told Time Radio on Thursday, “Unless the rules change in the House, a member has the right to come in,” before adding, “What we believe is it’s in the best interest of both the member and the staff to stay away while there is a police investigation.”
Asked if empowering him or Parliament authorities outside the traditional disciplinary routes of the party whips or parties themselves was something the speakers’ conference should look at, Hoyle said: “What I would say is conversations are going on at the moment.”
Speaking to the same outlet, Crime and Policing Minister Kit Malthouse cautioned against barring elected representatives from Parliament before they are convicted.
“Far be it for me to give advice to the speaker but we have to take care when overriding the democratic decisions of the British public,” he said.
“If anybody is accused of a crime they’re innocent until proven guilty so we just need to be slightly sensitive about that but I’d be interested in seeing what the speaker concludes.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s press secretary has said the MP will lose the whip if he was ever charged with an offence, but the Conservative Party whips’ office has so far resisted pressure to immediately suspend the MP, which would identify him.
Commenting on the naming of the individual, Malthouse said it “has to be done proportionally and sensibly,” citing precedents where “we have in the past had MPs who have been accused of not dissimilar crimes who have been found innocent and where no further action has applied, and that puts enormous strain on individuals as well as indeed it does on victims who are making accusations in those circumstances.”
The latest arrest follows a Conservative MP being arrested on suspicion of rape in 2020. He was never identified and police took no further action after an investigation.
