THE Conservative Party has confirmed it is investigating an MP over inappropriate behaviour towards junior members of parliamentary staff.
Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn since 2019, has been referred to Parliament's standards body over WhatsApp texts allegedly sent to a young female intern and a male worker at Parliament.
The intern was sent a string of messages by the 40-year-old MP, according to BBC Wales.
The 40-year-old married MP was reported by Labour MP Charlotte Nichols, after the allegations first surfaced a month ago.
The Tory Party have confirmed an investigation is under way, that Roberts had apologised and that he is undergoing training in social media.
A Conservative Party spokeswoman said: "An investigation into Rob Roberts MP's conduct is ongoing.
"While Mr Roberts has apologised for his behaviour and has been undertaking safeguarding and social media protection training, we are clear such conduct is completely unacceptable."
Conservative MP @RobDelyn invited an intern to ‘fool around with him’ and suggested ‘fun times, no strings attached’https://t.co/ZA9vfMLLnI pic.twitter.com/Vm2QiJyKYr
— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) July 21, 2020
Roberts apologised in June when the allegations came to light and was rebuked by the Conservative Party chairman, Ben Elliot.
He was also asked to undertake safeguarding and social media protection training.
The Tory MP has not commented publicly himself.
His parliamentary office, constituency office and local Conservative Association has not responded to calls from the PA news agency.
A second allegation relates to accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards a male member of Parliamentary staff.
In response, Roberts told BBC Wales that earlier this year he invited a parliamentary staff member to dinner.
The MP, who recently split from his wife and publicly came out as gay, said: "My invitation was not accepted and the staff member did not feel comfortable about it. I do now recognise that it was inappropriate to have extended the invitation to a member of staff in the first place.
"However, I have found the last few months and the 'coming out' process to have been particularly challenging and the cause of a great deal of mental stress to me.
"Creating a story from this interaction which has been dealt with amicably seems calculated to add to that stress, which is distressing."
A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said as per the rules MPs themselves had voted for, they could neither confirm nor deny whether an MP is under investigation.
A report into an investigation of harassment, bullying or sexual harassment, may be made public at a later date once the investigation is complete.
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