The MP accused of watching porn in the Commons has been told by allies his position has become untenable and he should quit.
Friends of Neil Parish are said to be unhappy at the way he kept quiet and allowed speculation to form about party colleagues, according to Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates.
The MP for Tiverton and Honiton, who had the Conservative whip suspended on Friday, said he had opened a file by mistake and would continue his parliamentary duties while an investigation was ongoing.
The 65-year-old referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, days after two female Tory MPs said they witnessed him watching pornography on his mobile phone on two separate occasions – once in the Commons chamber and another at a committee.
The former farmer and MEP, who also chairs the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, told the Daily Telegraph: “Now it’s out in the open, it’s almost as if a weight is lifted off me.”
However, there have been calls for him to resign immediately with Labour’s Harriet Harman saying he should stand down from parliament “right away”.
The longest-standing female MP described the situation as a “new low for the House of Commons” and said Mr Parish is “not fit to be in parliament”.
Neil Parish: MP accused of watching porn in Commons should be kicked out of Tory party if guilty, says minister
“He should accept that and not drag the processes out,” she told BBC Radio 4.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper called for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to order Mr Parish to “resign immediately”, saying the behaviour would “count as gross misconduct” in any other workplace.
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His wife, Sue Parish, with whom he has been married for 40 years, said the whole episode was “just a bit stupid” and the allegations were “very embarrassing”.
Asked if she was aware of her husband viewing porn before, she told The Times: “No. He’s quite a normal guy, really. He’s a lovely person. It’s just so stupid.
“People shouldn’t be looking at pornography. He would never just sit there with people looking. He would never just do that knowing [people were looking].
“These ladies were quite right to be as [upset] as they were. I’ve just no idea what happens in these circumstances. I don’t know whether it’s ever happened before.”
A farmer by trade, Neil Parish has been the MP for Tiverton and Honiton since 2010. Before that, he was an MEP.
A father of two and grandfather of two, he still lives on the family farm, according to his official website.
At the last election, he held a healthy majority of 24,239, securing 60% of the vote.
Throughout his time in politics, his focus has “always been standing up for residents and being a strong voice for the countryside”, his biography states.
He is the current chair of the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and as such also sits on the powerful Liaison Committee.
Mr Parish campaigned to remain in the EU as he said he believed that was “the best option for British agriculture”. However, he promised to “fight tooth and nail” to get the best Brexit deal for farmers.
She added that pornography is “degrading, demeaning” to women but said it would be “stupid” to let it come between them, adding: “I’m fairly tough, you’ve got to carry on, haven’t you?”
Two female Conservative MPs made the accusation against Mr Parish during a meeting of women Tory backbench MPs on Tuesday evening, but the whips office had not publicly named him.
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One MP at the meeting said Tory chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris looked “horrified” as they informed him, and asked for the man’s identity.
Mr Parish is now understood to be the focus of two investigations – one by the parliamentary commissioner Kathryn Stone after he referred himself to her, and another by the Independent Complaints and Grievances Scheme (ICGS), which one of the female MP witnesses referred him to.
