Boris Johnson took part in training course on sexual harassment and bullying, No 10 confirms
- The Prime Minister listened to the two-hour online course along with other MPs
- The course, called Valuing Everyone, was made compulsory for MPs and peers
- Mr Johnson took part after accusations two close allies bullied civil servants
Boris Johnson took part in training on sexual harassment and bullying last week, No 10 has confirmed.
The Prime Minister listened to the two-hour online course along with other MPs and peers on Thursday.
One participant told Sky News: ‘I was quite surprised to see the Prime Minister taking part, given everything he has to deal with at the moment: Covid, exams and so on.
‘He sat very still throughout the whole thing, barely moving, but at the end he said “most informative”.’
Boris Johnson took part in a two-hour online training course on sexual harassment and bullying with other MPs and peers last week
Mr Johnson took part in the session after accusations that two of his closest allies, Home Secretary Priti Patel and controversial Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings, had bullied civil servants.
The course, called Valuing Everyone, was made compulsory for MPs and peers last year in the wake of abuse allegations and the so-called ‘Pestminster’ scandal.
Among the senior politicians taking part in the video conference were Attorney General Suella Braverman and Steve Barclay, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
It began with a film about a male employer who began behaving inappropriately towards a young female employee, with his behaviour getting gradually worse until he eventually sacked her.
Mr Johnson had already arranged to take part after a Freedom of Information request revealed he was one of 159 MPs who had not done the training since it was created in May 2019.
Mr Johnson took part in the session after accusations that one of his closest allies, Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured), had bullied civil servants
They included 140 Tories, seven Labour, five Democratic Unionist, four Scottish National Party, two SDLP and one independent MP.
The training aims to ensure everyone is ‘able to recognise bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct – and feels confident taking action to tackle and prevent it’, according to Commons authorities.
It was launched after an independent probe by Dame Laura Cox found that bullying and harassment had been allowed to thrive in Parliament under a top-down culture of ‘deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence’.
Westminster was rocked by a wave of sexual harassment allegations in autumn 2017, triggering the resignations of defence secretary Michael Fallon and Damian Green, who was Theresa May’s de facto deputy at the time.
Former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, who was suspended from the party, has since been found guilty of sexual assault.
Westminster was rocked by a wave of sexual harassment allegations and former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke (pictured), who was suspended from the party, has since been found guilty of sexual assault
Last month Mr Johnson defended his decision not to suspend a Tory MP arrested on suspicion of rape.
He faced calls from Labour politicians to withdraw the whip from the ex-minister, who has since been released on bail.
The Prime Minister said: ‘I think it’s very, very important that we take all these cases extremely seriously and we will continue to do so.
‘I think we’ve got to wait for the police to decide whether they want to make charges and take a decision on that basis.’