MPs accused of sexual harassment could be let off with making an apology or completing a training course, a leaked Commons report has suggested.
The draft proposals come from a group of cross-party MPs set up by the Prime Minister to create a new complaints system to tackle sexual harassment in Westminster.
Other formal sanctions against sex-pest MPs, following a string of serious allegations last year, include suspension or even a recall in which they could lose their parliamentary seat.
But last night, as concerns were raised that there had been little progress on what the group called a ‘long-term project’, MPs and campaigners said it risked ‘kicking the issue into the long grass’ and accusations of ‘protecting the perpetrators’.
The draft proposals come from a group of cross-party MPs set up by the Prime Minister to create a new complaints system to tackle sexual harassment in Westminster. File image
Sarah Green, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, who gave evidence to the MPs, said: ‘After a couple of months of really serious allegations in Westminster and beyond, it’s still saying we need to take months longer to decide exactly what the process should be.’
Sky News obtained the unpublished report by the working group on an ‘Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy’.
It noted that while the group ‘believes that a change in workplace culture is both urgent and essential’, this is a ‘long-term project beyond the working group’s terms of reference’.
According to the broadcaster, the report conceded that an independent complaints process to tackle inappropriate behaviour would require a ‘range of sanctions’ but in the short term these will be restricted to measures such as an apology or sending an MP on a training course on harassment.
Late last year Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons who is also chairman of the working group, faced claims she failed to take action after being warned about the ‘toxic’ culture at Westminster.
Late last year Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons who is also chairman of the working group, faced claims she failed to take action after being warned about the ‘toxic’ culture at Westminster. Yesterday she said she wouldn’t comment on leaked content
In a statement yesterday, she said: ‘This is a very serious matter that the working group are determined to get right, and I will not comment on the content of leaked documents.
‘We recognise the need to change the culture in Westminster.
‘The working group will meet as soon as Parliament returns to make further progress in creating an independent complaints procedure.’
Unless new legislation is passed, any decision to suspend an MP or peer remains in the hands of political parties, except when they have been jailed for a criminal offence.
Interim measures proposed in the draft report include ordering politicians to complete an online learning module to ensure ‘better understanding of bullying and harassment’.
It also suggests a helpline staffed by experts in sexual harassment.
Labour MP Jess Phillips, who has campaigned for victims of sexual harassment, said: ‘This is a draft report and I hope when it is finally agreed that it will be much firmer and take away any power a political party has to cover things up.’
Labour MP Jess Phillips, who has campaigned for victims of sexual harassment, said she hopes the final draft of the plans will ‘take away any power a political party has to cover things up’