The Conservative MP found to have exposed himself to a young aide was the only MP to block the upskirting bill in Parliament in news that you couldn’t make up.
Former minister Peter Bone has had the Tory whip removed after being found to have committed bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member.
Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) said the MP “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member of his staff in 2012 and 2013.
He was alleged to have exposed himself to a member of staff along with a series of acts of bullying.
In 2018, Bone was the only Tory MP to object to a bill to make upskirting a specific criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison.
The voyeurism (offences) bill on upskirting – the taking of surreptitious, sexually intrusive images – was put forward by the Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse after a campaign by Gina Martin.
As a private member’s bill it would normally have little chance of becoming law. But early on Friday the justice minister Lucy Frazer said the government would back it.
However, when the then deputy speaker Lindsay Hoyle read out the name of the bill later that day, the Tory MP Christopher Chope shouted: “Object”. Without sufficient time in the session for a proper vote it was sent back for another try at a later date.
Related: Peter Bone’s voting record on gay rights exposed following sexual misconduct allegations
