International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has claimed she was once “pinned up against a wall” by a male MP, as she sought to explain the scale of sexual harassment in British politics.
The cabinet minister said female MPs were still subjected to inappropriate behaviour and that she had been touched inappropriately half a dozen times. Asked what form the harassment took, she told LBC: “You might describe it as being pinned up against a wall by a male MP – who is no longer in the House I’m pleased to say – declaring I must want him because he was a powerful man.”
It comes after Ms Trevelyan issued a warning to male MPs earlier this morning. “If you’re a bloke, keep your hands in your pockets and behave as you would if you had your daughter in the room,” she told Sky News.
I watched the video clip where Anne-Marie Trevelyan made the “keep your hands in your pockets” comment and she did stress in that conversation that it was only a small minority of men who were committing sexual harassment and there was no problem with the vast majority of male MPs.
