Porn MP Neil Parish suggests opening porn was a mistake and will wait for the outcome of the inquiry.
The MP under investigation for allegedly watching pornography in the House of Commons has claimed he may have opened it on his phone by mistake.
An inquiry has been launched after Neil Parish referred himself for investigation.
Asked whether he had opened something on his phone in error, Mr Parish said: “I did, but let the inquiry look at that.”
Asked if it was a mistake, he said: “I will await the findings of the inquiry.”
On Wednesday, it emerged that a female minister had reported a male colleague for viewing pornographic material while sitting beside her in the Commons chamber.
The same female minister said she had also seen the MP watching pornography during a hearing of a select committee.
Porn MP Neil Parish embarrassed his family
In an interview with the Times, Mr Parish’s wife, Sue Parish, said the allegation was “very embarrassing” and described her husband as “quite a normal guy” and “a lovely person”.
He has refused to resign as an MP or as head of the environment select committee until the inquiry concludes.
Two female colleagues complained after claiming to have seen him looking at adult content while sitting near them.
Mr Parish has been suspended from the Conservative party, pending the outcome of the investigation by Parliament’s standards commissioner Kathryn Stone.
If she finds that he has violated the code of conduct for MPs, possible punishments range from apologising to the Commons to suspension or expulsion.
Neil Parish will resign
Questioned by the BBC News on Friday, Mr Parish said he would co-operate fully with the inquiry and would await the outcome before commenting.
“Of course it’s embarrassing,” he said. “And it’s embarrassing for my wife and family, and so that’s my main concern at the moment. I have a very supportive wife and I thank her for that.”
Mr Parish also said he would resign if “found guilty” by the inquiry, saying he understood the upset he might have caused and “I apologise for that”.
However, in a statement on his website, he said he would continue working as an MP and committee chair, despite calls from female colleagues for him to resign or at least to stop attending Parliament while under investigation.
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Who is Neil Parish?
Who is Neil Parish? He is a 65-year-old and has been an MP since 2010. Prior to that, he was a Member of the European Parliament for South West England from 1999 to 2009.
He is an MP for Tiverton and Honiton. He has been dubbed – Porn MP Neil Parish on social media. He will stop attending Parliament during the investigation.
He left school at 16 to manage his family’s farm and, in 2000, was an election monitor during Zimbabwe’s parliamentary election.
He opposed Brexit in the 2016 referendum and voted against the introduction of same-sex marriage by David Cameron’s government.
Mr Parish is married and has two children and two grandchildren.
Mr Parish has been suspended from the party whip pending the outcome of Ms Stone’s investigation.
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