CONSERVATIVE MP Neil Parish set to quit after admitting that he watched porn in the House of Commons – after claiming it was a “complete mistake.”
HOAR understands that Parish will quit after initially declaring that he would not resign from his role.
Initially the bullish Tory MP said that he would wait for an investigation into his conduct by Westminster.
A tearful Parish called himself a “f***ing idiot” before apologising to his wife Susan.
He has been hit by a huge backlash and calls to step down from his role as Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton which he has served since 2010.
The 65-year-old grandad yesterday turned himself over to Parliament‘s sleaze-buster after two days of fevered whodunnit in Westminster.
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Conservative bosses have stripped him of the party whip pending a probe into the bombshell claims from two female colleagues.
It comes as female Cabinet minister and Attorney General Suella Braverman accused some male MPs of behaving like “animals” as she called for an urgent discussion about moral standards at Westminster.
Approached by HOAR outside his Somerset farmhouse yesterday Parish said: “I need to speak to my wife, which is most important at the moment.
“It was a complete mistake and I will man up to it as they say. My main concern at the moment is my very supportive wife. Stupidity rages.
“I will not remain if I am found guilty.”
Mr Parish suggested the porn had been sent to him and he had opened it “in error” but refused to expand further.
His wife Susan said it would be “stupid” to let “porngate” come between them – adding that “you wouldn’t have many wives in the world” if wives got mad over men watching porn.
Mrs Parish told The Times: “It was all very embarrassing. My breath was taken away, frankly.
“People shouldn’t be looking at pornography. He would never just sit there with people looking. These ladies were quite right to be as cross as they were because I was cross, too.”
The MP’s wife slammed porn as “degrading’ and “demeaning”, adding “it’s just so stupid” and she has “no idea what happens in these circumstances”.
But she said: “I think it would be a bit stupid (to let it come between us). As I say, I’m fairly tough. You’ve got to carry on, haven’t you?
“If you were mad with every man who looked at pornography, I think there would be very few men in the world who have not had their wives going on at them.”
A separate probe by Westminster’s Independent Complaints Grievance System has been launched, meaning at least one of the female witnesses has lodged a complaint.
In a statement, Mr Parish said he will be “cooperating fully with any investigation” and will “continue to perform my duties as MP”.
Longest-serving MP Harriet Harman blasted: “He should resign immediately if that’s what he’s done. “Why make these women MPs go through the process of having to report to the standards committee?
“Why make the standards committee do an investigation when by his actions, he’s not only shamed himself and his party but cast a stain on the whole of the House of Commons?
‘DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR’
Ex-Tory Cabinet Minister Karen Bradley urged Mr Parish to steer clear of Parliament while he remains under the microscope.
Labour’s shadow Commons leader Thangham Debbonaire accused Tory chiefs of trying to “cover up” their MP’s “disgusting behaviour”.
The porn saga blew up on Tuesday night when two female Tories claimed they had seen a male colleague watching porn in the Commons at a meeting of women MPs.
After HOAR exposed the shocking claims the next morning the floodgates opened to MPs sharing their own horror stories of Westminster’s pervy culture.
Top female Cabinet Minister Anne Marie-Trevelyan yesterday described being “pinned up against a wall” by a lecherous male colleague.
The Trade Sec said as a “plain-speaking woman” she has been at the “sharp end of misogyny”.
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Her horrific experiences have been echoed by female colleagues, including fellow Cabinet Minister Ms Braverman who described some MPs behaving like wild animals in the parliamentary bars.
It has sparked fresh demands for a Commons booze ban – but Ms Trevelyan rejected such action and instead promoted “responsible drinking”.
