THE Tories were coming under pressure last night to suspend Aberdeen South MP Ross Thomson after police removed him from a bar in Parliament over allegations of “groping” visitors.
Incredibly, one of his colleagues appeared to blame the alleged incident on the stresses of Brexit.
“I have been worried about Ross. He has been under a lot of pressure with the workload and Brexit,” one Conservative MP told The Herald.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they had been called at around 11pm on Tuesday night “following a report of sexual touching”.
A spokesman said: “Police were called at approximately 23:00hrs on 5 February to a bar within the Palace of Westminster following a report of sexual touching.
“Officers attended and spoke to the parties involved – three men in their 20s and 30s. However, no formal allegations were made to the officers and no arrests were made.”
Last night Thomson was refusing to comment, with the MP’s office directing journalists to the Tory press office.
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said they were “aware of reports of an incident” and that the “matter is being looked into”.
READ MORE: Tory councillor faces inquiry after ‘moaning woman’ comment
The National spoke to someone who was in the bar on Tuesday night. They told us: “He was a mess. If he wasn’t an MP and wasn’t in Parliament, he’d have been in real trouble.
“[Banff and Buchan MP] David Duguid was there trying to calm him down. Someone was filming it, so there is video footage.”
Another eyewitness told the Guido Fawkes blog: “Many people watched on in disgust and I saw someone pull him to one side to ask him to leave. He returned around four times after being chaperoned out.
“It became so unpleasant that the police had been called and eventually escorted him out of the bar after taking statements in the corridor. I believe the Sergeant at Arms is also aware of the incident.”
The House of Commons did not comment.
Embarrassingly for the Tories, the alleged incident came after the Tory chairman Brandon Lewis called for a Labour candidate to be suspended, after she accidentally liked a picture of a man’s penis on Twitter .
Lewis called for Labour’s Northampton North candidate Sally Keeble to be fired. He made no comment on Thomson last night.
Thanks to a number of gaffes and controversies, the Aberdeen South MP has had the highest profile of any the 13 Scottish Tories elected in 2017.
In April, last year he was accused of gross insensitivity over jokes he made while visiting Iraq.
READ MORE: Scots Tory MP Ross Thomson accused of 'glorifying' Saddam
Thomson claimed he was channelling his “inner dictator” while mucking about on Saddam Hussein’s parade ground and sitting on his throne during a fact-finding trip to Baghdad.
In December, he fell for a “blind- ingly obvious” TV hoax for a fake ethical drug app which supported a child-run cocaine factory in Colombia.
After the hoax was exposed, he complained the show had acted in an “underhand” way.
In October, 2016 when he was an MSP, the Scottish Tories forced Thomson to repay hotel expenses after sharing a taxpayer-funded room with a male friend.
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