DISGRACED MP Neil Parish said last night he will quit, after he admitted viewing pornography in the House of Commons chamber – and claimed he stumbled across it by accident as he searched for tractors on the internet.
He initially hoped to cling on to his seat by explaining himself to a Commons inquiry but announced his resignation after an outpouring of anger from MPs in all parties.
“I could see the furore, the damage I was causing my family and my constituency,” said Mr Parish.
While he claimed the first incident of watching porn in Parliament came after an online hunt for tractors, he admitted there were no excuses for a second viewing, while waiting to vote in the Commons.
The senior MP, who chairs the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, admitted: “What I did was absolutely, totally wrong.”
It means there will be a by-election in his Devon constituency of Tiverton and Honiton, where the Conservatives were victorious with a majority of 24,239 in 2019.
The Prime Minister now faces two potentially difficult by- elections, with another poll expected in marginal Wakefield, where MP Imran Ahmad Khan has tendered his resignation after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Explaining himself in a BBC interview, Mr Parish, 65, said: “Funnily enough, it was tractors I was looking at. I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done.
“But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”
This story is from the May 01, 2022 edition of Sunday Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 01, 2022 edition of Sunday Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
VAR is losing its appeal for fuming Frank
A BRENTFORD barricade following skipper Christian Norgaard's red card earned Thomas Frank's side their first away point of the campaign.
Worst Welsh run piles pressure on boss Gatland
WALES slumped to a 12th straight Test defeat as the pressure ramped up for head coach Warren Gatland at Principality Stadium.
Londoners waiting for home 'exiled' to North
COUNCIL chiefs have been warned they may be breaking the law by sending thousands of people on housing waiting lists in London to the North and the Midlands.
New drug for blood cancer a 'game-changer'
PATIENTS with a rare and deadly form of blood cancer have been \"given a second chance\" by a game-changing new drug.
How satellites pose threat to nuclear subs
HUGE leaps in satellite technology will make Britain's nuclear missilecarrying submarines less of a deterrent to China and Russia.
Rescue centres in crisis over rise in dumped dogs
THE RSPCA has warned of a shocking rise in pets being abandoned across the country, many in desperate need of care.
Paul's in-laws sell up to end village pub row
PAUL Hollywood's in-laws have sold their 600-year-old pub and ended a bitter row with villagers who have declared \"war is over\".
Monster deals for return of Thrones
GAME OF Thrones stars are set to be offered huge new deals to return for a big-budget movie sequel.
When arch pop rivals sang together as one...
BAND Aid creator Sir Bob Geldof has revealed the chart-stopping bands on Do They Know it's Christmas? \"could not stand each other\".
Trump 'may save Biden Jr from jail’
PRESIDENT Joe Biden's son Hunter is facing the grim prospect of being sentenced to prison twice in the space of just three days next month.
