UK Lower House Standards Committee Head Calls On Speaker To Resign Amid Harassment Claims

UK Lower House Standards Committee Head Calls on Speaker to Resign Amid Harassment Claims

Member of UK lower house of Parliament and outgoing Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Standards Kevin Barron on Tuesday urged Speaker John Bercow to resign amid allegations of harassment and mistreatment of employees in the UK House of Commons

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2018) Member of UK lower house of Parliament and outgoing Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Standards Kevin Barron on Tuesday urged Speaker John Bercow to resign amid allegations of harassment and mistreatment of employees in the UK House of Commons.

On Monday, a 155-page report on independent investigation by Dame Laura Cox was published after complaints of bullying against Bercow by his former private secretaries. The report cites unconfirmed allegations of female employees being repeatedly propositioned, abused "in vulgar, gender-related terms," being grabbed or touched in other inappropriate ways. The speaker denied any wrongdoing.

"The report by Dame Laura Cox QC into bullying and harassment of House of Commons staff will not shock anyone who has worked in parliament for any length of time ... The change in culture has to come from the top and I no longer believe that the Speaker, John Bercow, is the correct person to provide that leadership, so he should step down," Barron wrote in an article for the Times.

Even though the speaker has introduced a number of effective procedural changes during his term, his own behavior hampers safe working environment, the lawmaker underlined.

"I believe a great deal of that work was undermined in one vote in July of this year when MPs, including numerous ministers, voted to stop the publication of the Names of MPs who are being investigated for wrongdoing. All this did was to provide more ammunition for the people who say we will always mark our own homework and provide cover for fellow MPs," Barron added, referring to his own efforts to bring more transparency to the lower house.

Maria Miller, the chairwoman of the Commons' Women and the Equality Committee, has also reportedly called on Bercow to resign.

According to the report into alleged harassment. a culture of bullying and sexual harassment pervades the lower house of UK's parliament and it may take generations to change that.