Female MPs are not safe in parliament, says Labour's Charlotte Nichols
Labour MP Charlotte Nichols has said female MPs are not safe in Parliament
GB News
Labour MP Charlotte Nichols has said female MPs are not safe in Parliament and her party is not doing enough to tackle the issue.
Asked by Camilla Tominey on GB News if MPs are safe, she said: “I don't think that female MPs are, but I think that the people that are most at risk are parliamentary staff, particularly young women, and young gay men or men perceived to be gay, who have the least power in the institution.
"They are the most at risk and have the least form of redress of any of us.
“I think the issue of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct is unfortunately baked into every single part of how the institution of Westminster operates.
A Labour MP says she was warned about 30 Members of Parliament to avoid when she was first elected PA"No party has clean hands on this.
“But one of the things that I'm concerned about is that I do expect my own party to be better.
"And we're not having the ability to have the moral high ground at the moment because we can't even keep our own house in order and on a personal level and a professional level, I find it deeply, deeply upsetting.”
It comes after her colleague Geraint Davies was suspended on last week following accusations he had subjected five younger female colleagues to unwanted physical and verbal sexual attention.
Nichols said Labour's hierarchy knew about allegations against current MPs, but "can't even keep our own house in order".
The MP for Warrington North previously spoke out about the "underlying absolutely rotten culture at Westminster".
She continued: “Frankly, if people aren't willing to call their own parties out but they're willing to point fingers at other parties, you don't actually care about sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, you care about scoring political points.
“I've raised concerns with my whips about a number of colleagues.
Labour's Geraint Davies has been suspended following accusations he had subjected five younger female colleagues to unwanted physical and verbal sexual attentionPA"I’ve mentioned previously when I first came into parliament I was given a list of about 30 MPs to stay away from, these were people that I should never accept to drink from, should never be alone with, should never get in a car with or lift with.
“And this was MPs from all different parties, including a handful from my own.
“I'm left wondering how much worse it would be if you're a junior member of staff, if you're an intern, if you're a junior reporter in the lobby, who comes into parliament in your first week.”