mr speaker last week a government minister was accused of sexually assaulting a young man i want
to quote the victim's account he says he grabbed my ass and then he slowly moved his hand down in
front of my groin i froze i accept that's not easy listening but it's a reminder to all those
propping up this prime minister just how serious the situation is he knew the accused minister
had previously committed predatory behavior but he promoted him to a position of power anyway
mr speaker that individual the uh on member for tamworth no longer has the conservative
whip he no longer has a a job he he is no longer as soon as i was made aware of
the allegation that he has just read out mr speaker the complaint that was made uh he
lost his he lost his status as a conservative mp and he is now the subject uh mr speaker of
an independent investigation to the complaints and grievances uh panel and that is entirely
right i want to say to him uh mr speaker i want to say to him that i abhor bullying
and abuse of power anywhere in parliament in this party or in any other party
none of that explains why he promoted him in the first place and we've heard it all before
we know who he really is before he was found out he's reported to have said he's handsy that's the
problem pincher by name pincher by nature now has the prime minister ever said words to that effect
and i'm not asking for bluster and half truth we've all had enough of that yes or no prime
minister mr speaker i'm not going to trivialize uh what happened i i i yes mr speaker yes mr speaker
i'm not because the very serious complaints have been raised against uh the member for tamworth
and they're now being investigated mr speaker it is true it is true that the complaint was
raised when he was in the foreign office and the matter was uh resolved it's absolutely true
it's absolutely true mr speaker that it was raised with me i greatly regret that he continued uh in
office and and i i've said that i have said that before mr speaker i have said that uh before mr
speaker but he is now it is now the subject of an independent investigation and and that is
the right thing mr speaker frankly i think the people of this country i would like also to hear
they would like also to hear about other jobs that are held by people in this country not least the
500 000 people we got off welfare into work uh in the last six months alone mr speaker those are
things that are making differences to the lives of people up and down the country and i'm proud of it
no one's hearing that no denial and he says the matter was resolved
when he means it was upheld exactly and they're all sitting there as if this is normal behavior
when that young man reported his attack to a government whip she asked him if he was gay
when he said that he was she replied that doesn't make it straightforward
that comment will sicken anyone who's experienced sexual assault and then be
made to feel like they somehow ask for it or who worry that prejudice means their complaint won't
be taken seriously will he apologize for those disgraceful comments on behalf of his government
speak i've already said uh that i regret very much that uh the uh member for tamworth continued to
hold office after the complaint was made against him in the in the foreign office and uh it was it
was resolved in the fall of his his apology was accepted but clearly that was not enough and in
hindsight mr speaker i should have realized that he would not she would he would not change however
when it came to the friday of last week and when i was given the information that he's read out
about the complaint that was made against uh the honourable member i acted immediately mr
speaker and i i took the whip away from him and we will not tolerate we will not tolerate
that kind of behavior in this or any other party mr speaker and what we also want to do
is to help people up and down the country with the things that also matter to them
like cutting their taxes mr speaker by 330 pounds this year which is what we're doing here
doesn't that just sum him up awful behavior unacceptable in any walk of life it's there
for all to see but he ignores it it was the same when his ally was on the take from the lobbyists
it was the same when his home secretary was bullying staff it was the same when
taxpayers money was being abused and it was the same when he and his mates parted their
way through lockdown anyone quitting now after defending all that hasn't got a shred of integrity
mr speaker isn't this the first recorded case of the sinking ships fleeing the rats
he talks he talks about he he should hear what he's not saying about him
uh mr speaker he he talks about he talks about in integrity and he wanted he wanted to install
uh the member for islington north into number 10 right and mr speaker that's what that's
what he wanted to do imagine imagine what our country and what the world would be like now
he talks about integrity he voted he voted 48 times to overturn the will of the british people
and take us back into the european union and by the way listening to his muddled speech the
other day that is exactly what he would do again uh mr speaker he talks about integrity but mr
speaker he has voted time and time again against against sanctions on criminals that would put
them behind bars this is the government that is tough i'm sorry he's he talks about integrity he
is himself facing a criminal investigation and mr speaker which he asked me to resign
what a pathetic spectacle the the dying act of his political career is to parrot that nonsense
and as for those who are left only in office because no one else is prepared
to debase themselves any longer the charge of the lightweight brigade
have some self-respect mr speaker for a week he's had them defending
his decision to promote a sexual predator every day the lines he's forced them to take
have been untrue first that he was unaware of any allegation untrue then he was unaware of
any specific allegation untrue then he was unaware of any serious specific allegation
and now he wants them to go out and say that he simply forgot but his whip was a sexual
predator anyone with anything about them would be long gone from his front bench in the middle
of a crisis doesn't the country deserve better than a zed list cast of nodding dogs
mr speaker uh it's when it's exactly when when times are tough when the country faces
pressures on uh the economy uh and pressure's on their budgets mr speaker and when we had the
biggest war in europe for 80 years mr speaker that is when that is exactly the moment that
you'd expect a government to continue with its work not to walk away mr speaker and to get on
with our job and to focus on the things that matter to the people of this country and that so
we're not only cutting taxes uh today mr speaker we're putting 1200 pounds into every of one of
the eight million most vulnerable households in the country mr speaker thanks to the strength
of our economy and thanks to the decisions that we took mr speaker which he opposed at the time
the only thing he's delivering is chaos i started this session with a quote from the young victim in
all this how he froze when he was attacked when i was prosecuting rapists i heard that from victims
all the time victims said they froze because it's not about sex it's about power and the power the
disgraced government minister had was handed to him by that prime minister and he's only in
power because he's been propped up for months by a corrupted party defending the indefensible
so it's no longer a case about swapping the person at the top isn't it clear the only
way the country can get the fresh start it deserves is by getting rid of a lot of them
mr speaker the difference the difference between this
we've got to get through premises questions prime minister mr speaker the the difference between
this government and that opposition is we have a plan and they do not and we're getting on it they
want to focus on this type of issue mr speaker we're going to get on with our jobs we're going to
control prices mr speaker by not giving in to the union barons they're paid by the union barons and
they're and they're proud of it we were the first european country to arm the ukrainians mr speaker
i'm proud of that and those guys mr speaker that the party opposite the party opposite not only do
they want to put corbin mr corbin into number 10 uh the memphis into north but eight of them
including the shadow foreign secretary the shadow deputy leader and six others six others voted
to get rid of our independent nuclear deterrent and mr speaker today we are cutting taxes we're
helping half a million people into work and thanks to the strength of our economy we're helping
people up and down the country and we are going to continue to deliver on the mandate i was given
you