'Right' decision not to suspend MP arrested on suspicion of rape, says government minister

Senior Tories have defended the Conservative Party's decision not to suspend an MP arrested on suspicion of rape.

The accused MP, a former minister, was arrested and taken to an east London police station on Saturday morning before being released on bail later that day.

The Metropolitan Police said the allegations of sexual offences and assault related to four separate incidents which are said to have taken place between July 2019 and January 2020.

The man, in his 50s, has been accused by a young woman who used to work in parliament, Sky News understands.

At the weekend, the Conservatives were criticised for deciding not to immediately withdraw the party whip from the accused MP.

An MP who has the whip withdrawn is effectively expelled from their party, but keeps their seat in the House of Commons.

They must sit as an independent until they have the whip restored.

Critics have highlighted how Charlie Elphicke - who was last week found guilty by a court of three counts of sexual assault - had the Conservative whip withdrawn in 2017 when serious allegations were made against him.

He controversially had the whip reinstated a year later when Theresa May faced a confidence vote, and then stood down as an MP before last year's general election.

Asked why he had not withdrawn the Conservative whip from the current MP who was arrested on Saturday, Tory chief whip Mark Spencer stressed there was a "need to wait for the police to do their work".

"They are very serious allegations and we do take those allegations very seriously," he said, as he left his farm shop in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire on Monday.

"I think it's down to the police to do that thorough investigation, not for the whips' office to investigate this alleged crime - it's for the police and the authorities to do that.

"Once they come to that conclusion, then we can assess where we're at and the position the MP finds themselves in."

Business minister Nadhim Zahawi also defended the Conservatives' decision not to withdraw the whip from the MP.

"These are very serious allegations, there is a police investigation," Mr Zahawi told Sky News.

"I think it is right for us to wait until the police conclude their investigation, and then you'll be hearing from the chief whip as to what action will be taken."

When challenged to name another public sector profession in which an individual wouldn't be suspended while facing such allegations, Mr Zahawi declined to do so.

"I don't want to speculate," he said.

"It's wrong to do so because sometimes when the details emerge, people go 'ah, now I understand why'."

It is understood the woman who has made allegations against the unnamed MP spoke to Mr Spencer on 1 April, although the Tory chief whip said she did not make any allegation of serious sexual assault at that time.

He advised her to make a formal complaint about the MP to the appropriate authorities.

:: Listen to the All Out Politics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Mr Zahawi refused to be drawn on what the whips' office had been told when, and what they had investigated before the MP's arrest.

"It is only right that the police get to complete their investigations and then you will hear from the chief whip and hopefully all these questions will be asked," he said.

"I think it's completely wrong to go any further."

Mr Zahawi added: "I absolutely believe that sometimes, when the details are then released, people will begin to understand why the chief whip or the Conservative Party behaved or acted in a particular way."

Jess Phillips, Labour's shadow safeguarding minister, told Sky News that the MP who was arrested should have the Conservative whip withdrawn.

"If this was a case in any other public sector employer - in a hospital, a police force, a school or nursery - this kind of allegation, and certainly following an arrest and a bailing, would lead to somebody being suspended," she said.

"A suspension is a neutral act that is not suggesting that guilt is certain, but it is about safeguarding."

A spokesman for Mr Spencer said: "The chief whip takes all allegations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and has strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities, including parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, which can formally carry out independent and confidential investigations."