A man was left "scared and shocked" after an MP sexually assaulted him when was 15 years old, a court has heard.

Imran Ahmad Khan, now 48, is accused of groping the boy at a house party in Staffordshire in 2008.

In an interview played to jurors at Southwark Crown Court, the man, now 29, described how Mr Khan groped him in his bunkbed.

Mr Khan, who was elected as the Conservative MP for Wakefield in 2019, denies one charge of sexual assault.

The man told police in the interview that Mr Khan had watched him doing pull-ups and then followed him after he went to bed.

Won the last 3 elections at his Somerset and Frome constituency with majorities 50%+.

Probably thought he could do what he fancies.

Took over the Tory mantle from one of grease-mogg's daughters who had previously held the S&F seat.

Interesting to see what happens in the local election there in May

What is the reason for his suspension?

Labour MP Liam Byrne has been found to have bullied a former member of staff and will be suspended from the Commons for two days.

The ex-Cabinet minister and MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill ostracised a former assistant after a minor office dispute, an investigation found.

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone said his behaviour was a "significant misuse of power".

Mr Byrne said he had apologised and was "profoundly sorry".

A number of other allegations relating to unreasonable behaviour by Mr Byrne and pressure to work excessive hours were not upheld, the report found.

The investigation was started almost two years ago after complaints were made by the MP's former assistant David Barker to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).

A police officer has told a jury how former MP Natalie McGarry took refuge in a toilet as he read out a search warrant for her home.

Det Con Brian Butler said Ms McGarry was "angry and distressed" when he arrived at the house on 19 May 2016.

He said she closed the door on his face and did not conduct herself in a way "befitting of her position".

Ms McGarry, 40, is accused of stealing more than £25,000 from two pro-independence organisations .

The former SNP MP for Glasgow East allegedly embezzled £21,000 while treasurer of Women for Independence between April 2013 and November 2015.

A second charge states Ms McGarry took £4,661 when she was treasurer, secretary and convenor of the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP between April 2014 and August 2015.

She denies the two charges.

Another Tory MP arrested for rape and sexual assault. It supposedly went on over a 7-year period. What on earth is wrong with these people? The "Naughty Tory" concept is clearly endemic. Shame on @Conservatives for not rooting this out.

A former Conservative MP has been jailed for 18 months following his conviction for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

At a trial last month, Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, who was elected as Wakefield MP in 2019, was found guilty of groping the boy at a party in 2008.

Khan was expelled by the Conservative party following his conviction and later stood down as an MP.

The judge said he did not accept Khan had "any remorse" for what he had done.

JUST IN: @metpoliceuk are making inquiries into sexual assault allegation made about SNP MP Patrick Grady - Sunday Times




Odd that they name him given recent tory arrests!

Last 2 tories arrested on rape allegations have been unnamed

Former SNP MP Natalie McGarry has been jailed for embezzling £25,000 from two pro-independence groups.

The 40-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison.

She was found guilty last month of embezzling £19,974 while treasurer of Women For Independence and £4,661 when she was treasurer, secretary and convener of the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP.

McGarry was the MP for Glasgow East between 2015 and 2017.

In December 2019 McGarry had an earlier conviction for embezzlement quashed after judges ruled she had suffered a miscarriage of justice.

A police investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Glasgow MP Patrick Grady has been dropped.

Mr Grady stood away from his SNP membership after newspapers reported officers would be examining claims against him.

But after carrying out inquiries and speaking to the alleged victim it is understood police will be taking no further action at this time.

BBC Scotland has approached the SNP for comment.

A councillor drove at high speed through a 30mph zone before reversing into a police car, a court heard.

Tom Hollis, deputy leader of Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire, was spotted by officers while on his way home from bingo in September 2020.

On Friday he was found guilty of driving without care and attention.

The verdict comes a day after Hollis was convicted of harassing neighbours who had accused him of holding hot tub meetings during a Covid lockdown.

Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard Hollis had been returning home from bingo in a Range Rover when two police officers in an unmarked vehicle spotted the defendant travelling at high speed along Outram Street in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The officers made up ground to follow the defendant, with the court hearing the officers were driving at 70mph.

Turning their blue lights on, police continued to follow Hollis at speed along Northern Bridge Road to an Asda petrol station forecourt in Priestsic Road.

James Gregory, who was filling up his car on the forecourt, said the Range Rover "swung" onto the forecourt and he "had to take a step back" as he thought he would be hit.

He told the court the manner of Hollis's driving left him "shocked and frightened".

"It didn't appear to slow down … it looked like a full-blown police chase," said Mr Gregory.

The court heard Hollis then reversed at "five miles per hour" into a police car that parked up behind him on the forecourt. This was accepted to be an accident.

Summing up the case, District Judge Grace Leong, said Hollis claimed he was "not in a hurry" and it was a "leisurely drive home".

Hollis said in cross-examination he had been driving at 30mph, but this version was rejected by the judge.

The defendant also claimed he had not realised the blue lights were for him but Ms Leong said this was "utterly implausible" and he would have seen the lights well before he got to the petrol station.

"Mr Hollis, was very lucky not to be prosecuted for dangerous driving, travelling 60 to 70mph in an area which has traffic calming measures," the judge said.

On Thursday, Hollis was convicted at the same court of of two counts of harassment against his neighbours.

The court heard he had concocted a false knife threat allegation and sent a threatening letter on council-headed paper after they told police he had been hosting meetings in his hot tub.

The district judge found him guilty of both charges but also concluded the deputy leader did not hold council meetings in the hot tub during the Covid pandemic.

Hollis, of Yew Tree Drive, Huthwaite, will be sentenced for all three offences on 13 October.



He's an independent

What happened Angoose he loved a Graph

A Tory minister has been sacked over alleged inappropriate behaviour at the party’s conference.

Liz Truss has told Conor Burns to ‘leave the government with immediate effect’ after complaints came to light.

The junior trade minister has also had the whip suspended and will sit in the Commons as an independent pending an investigation.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen is facing a Commons suspension after breaching lobbying rules "on multiple occasions and in multiple ways".

The cross-party Standards Committee found he had displayed a "very cavalier" attitude to the rules.

It called for him to be suspended for a total of five sitting days for offences including an "unacceptable attack upon the integrity" of Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone.

The whole House will vote on sanctions.

In a statement, the North West Leicestershire MP said he was "extremely disappointed" but accepted the committee's findings and would "comply with them as required to do so",

The committee said Mr Bridgen had called Ms Stone's integrity into question on the basis of "wholly unsubstantiated and false allegations, and attempted to improperly influence" the process.

It recommended a suspension of three days for this - in addition to two days for for three breaches of the MPs' code of conduct, including failing to declare a relevant interest in emails to ministers.

Tory MP investigated by watchdog over donation
The report found he had "demonstrated a very cavalier attitude to the House's rules on registration and declaration of interests, including repeatedly saying that he did not check his own entry in the register".

The committee said Mr Bridgen should have told ministers and officials he received a donation and a funded visit to Ghana from the Cheshire-based firm Mere Plantations, and had a £12,000 contract to be an adviser.

He was found to have committed a "significant litany of errors" by failing to do so in eight emails to ministers, and in five meetings with ministers or public officials.

The MP had questioned whether his reputation as an outspoken critic of then-prime minister Boris Johnson could have influenced Ms Stone's findings.

He wrote to her saying: "I was distressed to hear on a number of occasions an unsubstantiated rumour that your contract as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is due to end in the coming months and that there are advanced plans to offer you a peerage, potentially as soon as the Prime Minister's resignation honours list.

"There is also some suggestion amongst colleagues that those plans are dependent upon arriving at the 'right' outcomes when conducting parliamentary standards investigations.

"Clearly my own travails with Number 10 and the former PM have been well documented and obviously a small part of me is naturally concerned to hear such rumours.

"More importantly however you are rightfully renowned for your integrity and decency and no doubt such rumours are only designed to harm your reputation."

The committee said Mr Bridgen's email "appears to be an attempt to place wholly inappropriate pressure on the commissioner" which is "completely unacceptable behaviour

A county councillor has been suspended from the Conservative group, following claims he belonged to a far-right organisation.

Hope not Hate said the Hythe West councillor Andy Weatherhead used to be a member of a fascist group called the New British Union (NBU).

Kent County Council and Folkestone and Hythe Conservatives said he had been suspended pending an investigation.

He apologised, and denied claims he posted antisemitic content online.

His suspension came after Hope not Hate published pictures of Mr Weatherhead appearing to attend a far-right rally and wearing clothes containing a symbol associated with fascism.

In a statement, Mr Weatherhead said: "I completely agree that the optic (sic) of these pictures is poor and potentially upsetting for some. For this I can and do sincerely apologise."

He said his association with the NBU was "brief", adding that he looks back on his actions during that period with "regret and personal disappointment".

Julian Knight has been suspended as a Conservative MP after a complaint was made to the Metropolitan Police, a party spokeswoman has said.

She declined to comment on the nature of the complaint as it is now under investigation.

Mr Knight, who has been an MP since 2015, chairs the culture committee in the House of Commons.

He represents the Solihull constituency in the West Midlands, but will now sit as an independent.

A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police this evening, we have removed the whip from Julian Knight MP with immediate effect."

A female Labour MP has reported a shadow frontbench MP to the Metropolitan police, claiming he sexually assaulted her.

The alleged incident is said to have taken place after a summer party in London in July 2021. But the MP decided to approach the Met in recent weeks, the police have confirmed.

She is reluctant to make a formal complaint through Labour’s own independent complaints system, although she was encouraged to, as she felt his popularity within the party would not help her case.

The female MP is said to have spoken to Labour whips over safeguarding issues and concerns about a “wider pattern of behaviour”.

Asked about the case, first reported by Tortoise, a spokesperson for Keir Starmer said the party’s leader took a “zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “We take any allegations of this sort very seriously and would always encourage individuals to go to the parliamentary process, the Labour party process or the police.

“In terms of the Labour party process, it is a thorough, robust and independent process that we believe individuals can have confidence in.”

It is understood that Labour would not usually suspend an individual until a formal complaint or other substantive information had been received. None has yet been forthcoming.

The Met police said: “In March 2023, police received a report that a woman was sexually assaulted by a man in London in July 2021.

“At the victim’s request the incident will not now be investigated at this time. Enquiries were at assessment stage. A formal investigation had not been launched.”

The renewed focus on Labour’s internal complains processes comes after it emerged on Wednesday that the party took three years to investigate a separate allegation of sexual harassment made by a woman against a senior aide.

The man, who is 20 years the complainant’s senior, had been allowed to continue working for the party advising a Labour frontbencher, even though the complaint was upheld.

However, a Labour spokesperson later confirmed that the aide had resigned. “Two separate investigations were carried out … into the same complaint received about an individual. He fully complied with the processes of both of those investigations and the remedial action recommended. This individual has now left his position,” they said.

In response to the initial allegations, Starmer’s spokesperson insisted the party leader was “confident the process is independent, thorough and robust”.

Pressed on the the speed of the complaints process, he added: “There are a range of factors as to why these processes can take time, down to the level of cooperation from the person … the allegation is being made against.

“Or there can be cases where the complainant may want to take the case at a certain pace, given their experience. We should respect that and allow the case to be taken at a pace that is appropriate to the circumstance.”

Before he quit, the former intern told Politico she felt “let down twice – by the man who chose to make me feel intimidated and vulnerable in my workplace, and by the party, which appears to be content to let him keep his job and risk other young women facing the same experience”.

Claire Reynolds, the director of Labour Women’s Network, has acknowledged that the party’s complaints system has made huge strides in recent years – but suggested more needed to be done.

She told the Guardian: “We believe women will only have full confidence in a wholly independent system from first contact to final outcome.”

Parliament's behaviour watchdog has recommended Conservative MP Peter Bone be suspended for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct.

It follows a complaint made to the body by a former member of staff, over alleged behaviour which took place over 10 years ago.

The suspension will have to be voted on by the House of Commons to be approved.

It would trigger a recall petition that could potentially lead to a by-election in Mr Bone's Wellingborough seat.

Under this process, Mr Bone would lose his seat if 10% of registered voters in his constituency signed a petition to remove him.

Parliament's Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found Mr Bone broke Parliament's sexual misconduct rules by indecently exposing himself to the staffer during an overseas trip.

It also upheld five allegations of bullying, including "instructing, or physically forcing, the complainant to put his hands in his lap when Mr Bone was unhappy with him or his work".

It also found he "verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated" him, and "repeatedly physically struck and threw things" at him, including hitting him with his hand or an object such as a pencil or a rolled-up document.

Nearly as many as there are naughty Labour, Liberal and SNP MPs. It is a big worry that so many people selected to run for election to parliament are either not screened properly before the election or more likely develop their bad habits in London.