Westminster sexual harassment scandal widens as minister and three other serving MPs implicated

It comes as Jeremy Corbyn warned in a speech on Saturday that MPs who engage in the abuse and sexual harassment of women must be held accountable for their actions

An aerial view of the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster (Getty)

Four MPs, including a minister, have been caught up in allegations of sexual misconduct at Westminster, it has been reported.

The politicians – two from Labour and two from the Conservative party – have been accused of harassing and propositioning young women inappropriately, according to The Times.

It comes as Jeremy Corbyn warned in a speech on Saturday that MPs who engage in the abuse and sexual harassment of women must be held accountable for their actions. The Labour leader said there is a “warped and degrading culture” - where the abuse of women is accepted and normalised and is thriving in the corridors of power, including Westminster.

The Prime Minister also believes the allegations made against politicians – including Cabinet members, reportedly – are “deeply concerning”, her spokeswoman said on Friday.

But the spokeswoman also stressed that Downing Street was not aware of any allegations having been formally reported.

According to the Times, the minister involved, who is married, is alleged to have made passes at several women including journalists and aides. Another married Conservative MP was said to have had affairs with at least two young researchers in the past few years.

On the Labour side, the paper said an MP who has served in the shadow cabinet under Mr Corbyn is alleged to have texted a work experience colleague, suggesting there would have been sexual contact had he been younger.

Another Labour MP allegedly sent multiple inappropriate texts “when drunk”, including to a researcher in her early twenties, the paper said.

A separate report in the Guardian also claimed four MPs were involved in allegations of misconduct but it was not clear if the papers are referring to the same individuals.

The interventions from Mr Corbyn and the Prime Minister came after The Sun reported that female researches and aides in Parliament are using a WhatsApp group to share information about alleged abuse and warn staff new to the Commons.

The group is alleged to have accused politicians of all parties of being “very handsy” in lifts and one minister of being “not safe in taxis”.

Asked about the allegations, the No 10 spokeswoman said: “Any reports of sexual harassment are deeply concerning.

“The Prime Minister was very clear, when we responded to the reports about Harvey Weinstein in the last few weeks, that any unwanted sexual behaviour is completely unacceptable, and that is true in any walk of life – including politics.

“Any allegations that may come to light will be taken extremely seriously and we would advise people to contact the police if there is such an allegation so that it's fully investigated.”

A Commons spokesperson said: “The House of Commons takes the welfare of everyone who works in Parliament very seriously.

“A free confidential helpline is provided by the House and available 24/7 for all Members’ staff.”

Max Freedman, chairman of the Unite union's parliamentary staff branch, said there should be an overarching complaints procedure for people to raise their concerns.

He said: “MPs come from every background, they are not given proper training when they come in here, there is no oversight of what they do.

“Unless there is a proper system put in place, then these things happen in all these big organisations across the country. That's the problem.