Prime Minister Theresa May has urged the British parliament to adopt tougher measures to investigate allegations of sexual harassment amid a growing list of claims against lawmakers
“Unwanted sexual behaviour is unacceptable in any walk of life. We must stamp it out,” May wrote on Twitter late Sunday.
May posted a copy of her letter to John Bercow, the speaker of parliament’s elected house, the Commons, arguing that a current voluntary code of conduct for lawmakers was “not fit for its intended purpose.”
Her intervention comes amid growing reports of historical and recent sexual harassment by lawmakers and powerful men in other professions, including BBC producers and journalists, in the wake of dozens of allegations of rape and other sexual abuse against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
“I believe that we must establish a house-wide mediation service complemented by a contractually binding grievance procedure available for all MPs irrespective of their party banner,” May said in her letter.
“It is vital that staff and the public have confidence in parliament,” she said.
The Times said it had seen a list of allegations against about 40 lawmakers from May’s Conservative party, including several cabinet ministers, who are accused of “making unwanted sexual advances or behaving inappropriately towards colleagues and junior staff.”
The list, compiled by researchers, “details extraordinary and unverified allegations about 15 current ministers and more than 20 backbench Conservative Members of Parliaments over the past five years.”(NAN/LEADERSHIP)
