British MP who watched porn on his phone in Parliament to step down

LONDON • A British lawmaker suspended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party following accusations that he watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons debating chamber has confirmed that he will resign as a Member of Parliament.

Conservative MP Neil Parish told BBC South West yesterday that his behaviour was a "moment of madness" and called his actions totally wrong. The report described him as getting choked up during the interview.

Mr Parish, who said earlier that he had opened the explicit content in error, was suspended on Friday after reporting himself to Parliament's standards commissioner. He previously said he will continue as an MP while an investigation is carried out.

British media has reported a female minister as saying that she saw a male colleague viewing pornographic material while sitting beside her in the Commons chamber and that the same lawmaker was watching pornography during a committee hearing.

In an interview with The Times newspaper yesterday, Mr Parish's wife said she was not aware of her husband having done anything similar before and that her husband was "a lovely person".

"It was all very embarrassing," the newspaper quoted Ms Sue Parish as saying. "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," she said.

Mr Johnson had said on Thursday that watching pornography would be unacceptable in any workplace.

The outcry comes at a time when Mr Johnson and his party are under pressure over parties held at his Downing Street office and residence when the country was under strict lockdown rules.

REUTERS