Lucy North/PA
Lee Anderson has been ordered to apologise to a security worker he swore at after his parliamentary pass didn’t work.
The Reform UK MP was found to have broken bullying and harassment rules by a parliamentary watchdog after he allegedly told the guard “f*** off, everyone opens the door to me, you are the only one” when he was told he needed to have his pass checked at the gates to the Westminster estate.
A complaint about the incident was upheld by Parliament’s standards commissioner, who says Anderson has expressed a desire to apologise.
“The sub-panel accepted Mr Anderson’s evidence that he had faced ‘challenging personal circumstances’ on the day in question and his ‘unacceptable behaviour’ was ‘not planned or premeditated’”, a report stated.
In its findings, the watchdog highlighted the “power imbalance” between the prominent MP and the security officer and noted the importance laid out in Parliament’s behaviour code not to “abuse” his influence or authority.
Anderson should apologise both to the complainant in writing and to the House of Commons by way of a personal statement, the watchdog concluded.
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