In a dramatic knife-edge vote, MPs voted that there should be no hiding place for suspected sex pests in the Commons.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May led a small group of eight Tories to vote against House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, along with opposition MPs.
To the outrage of many Opposition MPs, Mr Mordaunt wanted MPs accused of serious sexual or violent crimes to be barred from parliament only if they were prosecuted.
Officially it was a free vote. However, the majority of MPs who voted to postpone the ban until prosecution were Conservatives, including several ministers.
It was brave, especially with the general election coming up. Will members of Congress who vote against the arrest ban be attacked by their political opponents in the election for being soft on suspected sex pests?
The timing of the vote was perhaps unfortunate, amid renewed controversy earlier this week over former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke, who was jailed for sex crimes.
Over the weekend, his ex-wife Natalie, who left the Conservative Party for Labor last week, was accused of lobbying former attorney general Sir Robert Buckland on his behalf, a claim she dismissed as “nonsense”. did.
And Ms Elphike formally voted for the ban with her new colleagues, despite previously missing the parliamentary Labor Party’s weekly meeting. Had the ban been in place, the ex-husband would almost certainly have been subject to penalties.
After the vote, key supporters of the arrest ban were jubilant and appalled by the closeness of the vote. “Unbelievable!” Labour’s Stella Creasy told Sky News. But Mr Rees-Mogg slammed the proposals as a “power grab”.
It’s a historic vote. It doesn’t matter how close you were. Accusers will argue that they are now better protected. And MPs who supported strengthening the ban argue it would bring the Commons on par with other workplaces.
Well, to a certain extent. Members of Congress still have many perks and privileges that other employers and employees do not have. And there is still a long way to go before parliamentary practices and grievance procedures are fully up to date.
