Minister: MPs must take personality responsibility for how they behave
Michael Ellis was heckled by opposition MPs.

A Cabinet minister has insisted MPs must take āpersonal responsibilityā and choose how they act, amid fresh questions over sleaze in Westminster.
Michael Ellis was heckled by opposition MPs throughout his 49-minute appearance in the House of Commons to explain and defend the Governmentās handling of the Chris Pincher case.
The Cabinet Office minister faced questions about Boris Johnsonās knowledge of concerns raised against Mr Pincher, the MP for Tamworth who last week quit as the Governmentās deputy chief whip following claims he groped two men at a private membersā club.
Mr Ellis, in his initial reply to an urgent question from Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, detailed the bodies and institutions in place to try and uphold standards in public life.
He added: āNo system can replace the fundamental importance of personal responsibility.
āWe all know this to be true.
āCodes and rules and oversight bodies are there to guide us but we all ultimately in public life must choose for ourselves how to act.ā
Ms Rayner said the ālatest disturbing allegations about ministerial misconduct are all about abuse of powerā.
She added: āThe minister spoke about personal responsibility ā well, the minister needs to remind the Prime Minister of his personal responsibility.ā
Ms Rayner also asked: āWhen will this minister stop defending the indefensible and say enough is enough?ā
Labourās Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley) challenged Mr Ellis to say whether Mr Pincher āwould have been able to getā a job if she had been deciding about appointments.
She said: āThereās always something that is meant to be for the standards for the public, that a minister stands there and leans on to try and get out of, basically telling untruths to public, allowing sycophancy rather than morality to be the reason why people are given their jobs.
āMy final question to the minister is, if it had been me giving out those jobs, does he think the MP for Tamworth would have been able to get one?ā
Mr Ellis replied: āI would expect (her) perhaps more than she would expect of me, and by that I mean, that I would expect her to act fairly.
āSo I hope that answers her question.
āIf she was in that position of responsibility to make decisions about appointments I would expect her to act fairly, full stop.ā