https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67233090
The Reigate MP confirms that he was arrested but says he is confident there will be no charge.
Obviously innocent until proven guilty, but isn't this the guy who claimed that the conviction of Imran Ahmad Khan for being a paedo was a "miscarriage of justice"?
It wouldn't surprise me if he'd also behaved in a similar fashion.
At some point you start to wonder whether our abysmal rape conviction rates are a deliberate government policy to protect Conservative MPs.
Just to preempt the “he should be in prison” comments, as this is a police inquiry he will not be required to resign unless he is found guilty and sentenced to more than a year in prison, and has run out of appeals.
Of course there is nothing stopping the Conservative Party from withdrawing the whip if they feel he is distracting from their work, but even then he can sit as an independent MP until he resigns, or the next election.
Innocent until proven guilty does apply even to politicians you don’t like.
Yeah, at least that’s what he said when he was defending another sexual abuser https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/02/conservative-mp-crispin-blunt-to-step-down-at-next-election
I wonder if he was already under investigation at that point? It’s only five months ago.
Not a uk citizen here. Am I understanding this correctly that even if he is found guilty of rape, but is not sentenced to more than a year of prison, and/or has the ability to object to his sentence, he can remain in office? What the fuck.
The rule of a 12 month sentence before a recall petition can be triggered is regardless of crime, it’s not a specific “get away with rape” clause. In fact if he is found guilty it’s very unlikely he’d get such a short sentence, the 12 months is more to stop an MP losing their job over not paying their council tax, or too many speeding tickets.
The big problem is our rape conviction rates are a shameful embarrassment so by the stats of it, if he did commit the crime he’s incredibly unlikely to be sentenced. And even if he was, it’s unlikely to be before there’s a general election.
the 12 months is more to stop an MP losing their job over not paying their council tax, or too many speeding tickets
To me that's pretty bonkers. Twelve months is 20% of a full parliamentary term! It should be set at any non suspended custodial sentence. How can an MP represent their constituency from a prison cell? Are they going to hold surgeries in the visiting room?
At what point do the Tory party just recognise that their government is a complete and utter flustercluck and just call an election in the best interests of the country.
I mean, obviously never, but, it just gets more and more ridiculous
Sky News now reporting that the whip has been suspended, so it looks like the Tories aren’t standing by him and hoping it blows over.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ex-Tory MP Crispin Blunt has confirmed that he was arrested on Wednesday in connection with an allegation of rape.
In a statement, the Reigate MP, who had the whip suspended on Thursday, said he had twice been interviewed by police "in connection with this incident".
The Conservative Party withdrew the whip from Mr Blunt, meaning he will sit as an independent MP, after he confirmed he had been arrested.
In a statement Mr Blunt, a former justice minister, said: "It has been reported that an MP was arrested yesterday [25 October] in connection with an allegation of rape.
The arrest was unnecessary as I remain ready to cooperate fully with the investigation that I am confident will end without charge.
The MP in his 50s is currently on bail until mid-February 2024 on allegations of sexual assault, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in a public office.
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