MP Neil Parish confirms resignation and says he was trying to look at tractors rather than porn in Commons – UK politics live

Parish says he was trying to look at tractors

Speaking to the BBC, Neil Parish said that viewing porn in the House of Commons was a “moment of madness” and “I was not proud of what I was doing”.

He continued: “The situation was that – funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at. I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done. But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”

When asked whether viewing the porn for a second time had been deliberate, Parish said: “That was deliberate… that was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.”

He added: “What I did was absolutely totally wrong.”

You can view his full interview with BBC South West here

Updated at 10.14 EDT

Neil Parish initially resisted calls to resign after saying he may have opened pornography on his phone “by mistake”.

In an interview with BBC South West, he revealed that he had initially mistakenly opened a pornography website after looking for a site related to tractors, but admitted revisiting the site intentionally on a different occasion while in the Commons.

‘Moment of madness’: Neil Parish resigns over watching porn in Commons – video

Labour’s shadow Commons leader, Thangam Debbonaire, said Parish was right to resign over his “disgusting behaviour”.

“But it’s shocking that the Conservatives have allowed this debacle to drag out over many days,” she added.

“Time and again the Tories refuse to act, resorting to cover ups and dragging the reputation of other MPs and the house down with them.”

Updated at 11.22 EDT

Nicola Sturgeon has said the resignation of Neil Parish should be a moment for society to say “enough is enough” when it comes to misogyny.

The first minister reacted to news of the MP’s resignation as she campaigned in Burntisland, Fife, on Saturday.

She told the PA news agency:

I don’t think there could really be any other outcome to what has come to light about this particular MP over the last few days.

Watching porn on a mobile phone in the House of Commons when you’re there representing constituents is just unacceptable.

She said sexism and misogyny were a “societal problem” which now needed to change.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visits Tom Courts Butchers as she met with members of the public during local election campaigning on April 30, Burntisland, Scotland. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

She added:

So this is a moment I think to really say ‘enough is enough’. Not all men are misogynists, but all women do experience misogyny.

And misogyny is by and large about male behaviour. So men have to change, and I hope this is a moment where they really think about that carefully and seriously.

Updated at 11.13 EDT

Parish has also said that he wanted to put on record “for all my rights and wrongs, I was not proud of what I was doing and the one thing I wasn’t doing, which I will take to my grave as being true, is I was not actually making sure people could see it.

“In fact I was trying to do quite the opposite.”

Asked again why he had viewed the material, he said: “I must have taken complete leave of my senses and my sensibilities and sense of decency, everything.”

Parish said he was “not defending what I did for one moment” adding he thought the best thing he could do was to “tell the truth”.

Parish says he was trying to look at tractors

Speaking to the BBC, Neil Parish said that viewing porn in the House of Commons was a “moment of madness” and “I was not proud of what I was doing”.

He continued: “The situation was that – funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at. I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done. But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”

When asked whether viewing the porn for a second time had been deliberate, Parish said: “That was deliberate… that was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.”

He added: “What I did was absolutely totally wrong.”

You can view his full interview with BBC South West here

Updated at 10.14 EDT

Following Neil Parish’s announcement that he will resign as an MP, a spokesperson for Tiverton and Honiton Conservatives said:

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Neil Parish for his service to our communities over the past 12 years.

“We support his decision to step down as our Member of Parliament.”

Updated at 09.59 EDT

Neil Parish to resign as an MP

The Conservative politician accused of watching porn on his phone in the House of Commons has announced he will step down as an MP after facing calls to resign.

Neil Parish, the MP for Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, had already had the Tory whip removed and suggested he had opened the porn “in error”. He previously said he would only resign if found guilty by an inquiry into his actions.

Updated at 09.53 EDT

Steven Morris has spoken to some of Neil Parish’s constituents, and many are calling for him to resign as an MP.

“He should just admit what he’s done and get out,” said Hannah Tucker, 32, a supermarket worker who was shopping with her husband, Liam. “The Tories are a joke. They get up to all sorts – and most of the time get away with it. They’ve to be stopped.”

Liam, a highways technician, said it was never acceptable to look at the sort of material Parish is alleged to have viewed in the workplace. “The scandals keep on coming. I’ll never vote Tory.”

Katy Oakley, 40, an ecologist, was walking through the town with her four-year-old daughter, Olive. “This sums up what everybody thinks about the government, another shocking incident in a long line.

“I think it shows just how out of touch members of the elite are with normal society. They think they can get away with things that ordinary people couldn’t.

“This isn’t brilliant publicity for our town – it puts Tiverton in a bad light. It’s not good for the country’s image abroad. And it’s not good for society.”

You can read the full article here:

Updated at 09.17 EDT

Who is Neil Parish?

After a 12-year parliamentary career in which the MP for Tiverton and Honiton had rarely – if ever – been elevated to national importance, Neil Parish now finds himself at the centre of a political storm after it emerged on Friday that the Tory whip had been removed from him over the allegations.

A farmer and former member of the European parliament for south-west England, and a councillor before that, Parish was part of the 2010 parliamentary intake when he won what has increasingly become a safe Tory seat.

Since then, he has avoided controversy and has tended to measure his words relatively carefully in media appearances, and has served since 2015 as chair of the environment, food and rural affairs select committee (Efra).

One of the few areas where he has gone against the grain of his own party has been in his opposition to rewilding, which he opposes despite it being a position endorsed by Boris Johnson himself and most of the party.

One Tory source with previous experience working with him on the Efra committee – to which Parish was returned as chair in successive terms – described him as quiet and hard-working. “He would not have been on the top of my list of suspects,” they said, adding that Parish, 65, is “rather boring, actually”.

You can read more in our profile of Parish here.

Updated at 08.45 EDT

Sky News understands that Neil Parish is now likely to quit within hours after massive pressure from friends on him to step down, according to deputy political editor Sam Coates.

Updated at 08.09 EDT