By Danica Kirka
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — A British MP from the ruling Conservative Party has resigned after he was caught watching porn on his mobile phone while on the floor of the House of Commons.
Neil Parish, who has been an MP since 2010, announced his decision on Saturday after his own co-religionists pressured him to resign, at a time when accusations of his sleazy behavior became a risk ahead of local elections in the May 5th.
The election is seen to be of paramount importance to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is facing criticism for hosting parties at government offices that violated health regulations during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Neil Parish, a member of the Conservative Party in Britain, in a July 19, 2018 file photo. John Keeble/Getty Images
Parish, 65, said he had a "crazy" moment.
As chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, he said that he was trying to get onto a tractor website, but inadvertently went to a porn site with a similar name and looked at it for “a little while”.
"My biggest crime is that on another occasion I went back to [the porn site]," he told the BBC.
"And that was on purpose."
Reports that a lawmaker was watching pornography among the historic green benches of the House of Commons sparked an outpouring of criticism from women in Parliament over the misogyny and sexual harassment they face in the workplace.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Parish's resignation should prompt people across the UK to say "enough is enough".
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"I don't think there could be any other outcome to what has come to light about this MP in the last few days," Sturgeon said at a campaign event in Fife, Scotland.
"Watching porn on a cell phone in the House of Commons, where you represent the voters, is unacceptable."
Parish rejected the idea that he was trying to intimidate anyone.
"Despite all my rights and wrongs, I am not proud of what I did," he said.
“And the one thing that I wasn't doing, and that I'll take to my grave as true, is that I wasn't making sure that people could see it.
In fact, he was trying to do the complete opposite.”
The scandal comes at a sensitive time for Johnson, who will face pressure to resign if the Conservatives do poorly in local elections.
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