LONDON: An Indian-origin MP took centre-stage in the UK Parliament when she claimed that British Prime Minister Theresa May had failed to act over sexual abuse cover-up she had informed her about three years ago.
Lisa Nandy's intervention during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons came amid an intensifying storm around cases of sexual misconduct involving British politicians.
The Labour party MP for Wigan yesterday claimed that she had raised the issue of party whips, in charge of discipline within political ranks, misusing knowledge of sexual abuse cases to their advantage in 2014 – when May was UK home secretary in the David Cameron-led government.
"Three years ago, I brought evidence to her (May) in this House that whips had used information about sexual abuse to demand loyalty from MPs. I warned her at the time that unless real action was taken we risked repeating those injustices again today," Nandy said during PMQs.
"On three occasions, I asked her to act and on three occasions she did not," she claimed, demanding that the British prime minister take "concrete action" to tackle the issue now.
May, who had opened the day's parliamentary proceedings with a statement on the issue of sexual misconduct involving political leaders, said that she had been holding a series of meetings to set up a "common, transparent, independent" grievance procedure.
Responding to Nandy’s question, May indicated that she did not recall the three instances being referred to but was determined to take firm action.
May said: "I am very clear that the whips office should make clear to people that where there are any sexual abuse allegations that could be of a criminal nature, that people should go to the police.
"We want people to feel confident to bring forward cases and we need to ensure that those cases are properly investigated. I want to see a good process within this Parliament.” The heated exchange in Parliament followed a series of revelations over the last few days involving senior members of the UK Cabinet and political figures across party lines.
May's deputy, First Secretary of State Damian Green, was the latest figure to get caught up in allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female Conservative party activist, Kate Maltby, who wrote in 'The Times' that he "fleetingly" touched her knee in a pub in 2015, and in 2016 sent her a "suggestive" text message.
Green has denied the allegations as "completely false" and said he has instructed libel lawyers to pursue a legal route in the matter.
Downing Street confirmed that the prime minister had asked the UK Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to "establish the facts and report back as soon as possible" over the allegations involving her deputy.
The revelations involving Green came soon after a Labour party activist, Bex Bailey, revealed that she was raped at a party event in 2011 and that a senior Labour official discouraged her from reporting the attack.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said the 25-year-old former member of the Labour's ruling National Executive Committee had shown "incredible bravery" in speaking out and said she had his "full support and solidarity".
The party has launched an independent investigation into the activist's claims.
"There will be no tolerance in the Labour Party for sexism, harassment or abuse. Whatever it takes, we are absolutely committed to rooting it out," said Corbyn, who has offered to meet May to discuss the issue of setting up appropriate channels to deal with such cases early next week.
May has proposed an independent mediation service for staff wanting to raise concerns about MPs’ behaviour and enforcing a grievance procedure overseen by MPs that is currently voluntary.
A number of MPs are pressing for tougher action, including an independent body to police the conduct of politicians similar to the Independent Standards Authority (ISA), which acts as the watchdog for expenses.