THE deputy leader of the Scottish Tories has branded Ross Thomson's behaviour "completely unacceptable" after an alleged report of "groping" in a Commons bar.
Jackson Carlaw, who is filling in for Ruth Davidson while she is on maternity leave, said he became aware of the incident yesterday.
He added: "Like others I became aware of alleged behaviour by one of my parliamentary colleagues in the House of Commons on Tuesday night from social media reports yesterday afternoon.
"Enquiries are ongoing, however, I know enough to say that the alleged behaviour is completely unacceptable and falls well below the standard I think anby of us would expect from any elected representative.
"Those enquiries are ongoing and we may have more to say at a later time."
'His behaviour is completely unacceptable.'
— STV News (@STVNews) February 7, 2019
Scots Tories interim leader Jackson Carlaw responds after MP Ross Thomson was led away from a bar by police investigating reports of 'sexual touching'. pic.twitter.com/GMZVqJlCFa
The Tories have been under increasing pressure to suspend the Aberdeen South MP after the alleged "groping" was revealed on the Guido Fawkes blog.
When asked if Thomson's position should be reconsidered, Carlaw repeated that enquiries are "ongoing" and that the MP's behaviour was "unacceptable".
READ MORE: Tory MP's ex-husband claims alleged groping incident is 'good insight' into marital split
One of Thomson's 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 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.”
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.”
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