Tory MP arrested on suspicion of rape and banned from Parliament

A Conservative MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

The Metropolitan Police said a man in his 50s was in custody on charges between 2002 and 2009.

The unnamed MP has been asked by his party leaders not to attend parliament pending a police investigation.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “In January 2020, the Met received a report into alleged sex offenses committed between 2002 and 2009. The crimes are said to have happened in London.

“An investigation is underway being led by officers from Central Specialist Crime. A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of a position of trust and misconduct in public office. He remains in custody.”

The arrest comes just weeks after Westminster was rocked by another round of “Pestminster” allegations against incumbent MPs. They led to the resignation of a Tory MP, Neil Parish, after he admitted seeing pornography in the House of Commons.

Last month, disgraced former Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan resigned after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. His victim said he alerted the Conservative Party before Mr Khan was elected MP but his warnings went unheeded.

There were also reports that three cabinet ministers were among the 56 MPs allegedly accused of sexual misconduct and referred to parliament’s dirt guards. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was set up in the wake of the #MeToo movement and after a previous round of allegations against MPs during which the name “Pestminster” was coined.

A spokesman for the Conservative Whips’ Office said: “The Chief Whips has requested that the MP in question not come to the House of Parliament while an inquiry is ongoing. We will not comment further until the investigation is complete.”

But Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, asked “what it takes” for MPs accused of serious crimes to be formally banned from Parliament.