Westminster Bullying: The Full Letter Calling For 'Immediate' Action Against Harassment

Read the list of people who have signed up – including many current staff of the House of Commons.
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Dear Members of the House of Commons Commission,

The signatories of this letter have one thing in common. We have personally experienced, or seen first-hand, bullying or harassment by Members of Parliament left to go unchallenged.

Dame Laura Cox’s report has exposed Westminster’s open secret – a minority of parliamentarians have been allowed to get away with this behaviour for years.

We support the conclusions of the Cox report and call upon the House of Commons, led by the House of Commons Commission, immediately to implement its three key recommendations, namely:

  • To abandon the ‘Valuing Others Policy’ and the ‘Revised Respect policy’;
  • To amend the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme so that historic complaints can be made and investigated; and
  • To take steps to ensure that Members of Parliament play no part in the process for determining complaints of bullying, harassment or sexual harassment against MPs.

Our House of Commons is at the core of our democratic system and has been seen as a model around the world. We want a Parliament we can be proud of.

The Commission owes a duty of care to the staff it employs. Fulfilling this duty should be a matter of HR not politics.

Yours faithfully,

*Martyn Atkins, Clerk of the Procedure Committee, House of Commons

Ashley Bachrynowki, Former Visitor Assistant, House of Commons

*Jake Barker, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Sir Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley and former Chairman of the Committee on Standards

Lis Bates, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Simon Blackburn, Former Clerk, House of Lords

*Carolyn Bowes, Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Libby Bradshaw, Former Inquiry Manager, House of Commons

*James Clarke, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

*Emily Commander, Deputy Principal Clerk, House of Commons

*Rachael Cox, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Frank Cranmer, Former Principal Clerk (Clerk of Bills), House of Commons

Emily Davies, International Project Manager, BGIPU

Nick Davies, Former MP’s researcher

Alistair Doherty, Former Deputy Principal Clerk, House of Commons

Fiona Eadie, President, FDA Union

Rhiannon Edwards, British Group Inter Parliamentary Union

Mark Egan, Former Deputy Principal Clerk, House of Commons

Rev’d Geoffrey Farrar, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Andrew Forth, Former MP’s researcher

Simon Fuller, Former Legal Specialist, House of Commons

Oonagh Gay OBE, Former Library Specialist on Members’ Codes of Conduct, House of Commons

Tom Goose, Former employee, House of Commons

Josh Green, Former MP’s researcher

Emily Gregory, Former Senior Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Libby Gunn, Former Legal Specialist, House of Commons

*Darren Hackett, Senior Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow, Institute for Government

*Paul Hampson, Committee Assistant, House of Commons

*Tom Healey, Clerk, House of Commons

Georgina Holmes-Skelton, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

*Ian Hook, Senior Executive Officer, Scrutiny Unit, House of Commons

*Alexander Horne, Legal Adviser, House of Lords European Union Committee

Lorna Horton, Former Inquiry Manager, House of Commons

*Jane Hough, Head of Business Planning and Performance, Corporate Services, House of Commons

Lori Inglis Hall, Former Senior Committee Assistant

*Sarah Ioannou, Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Helen Irwin, Former Principal Clerk (Clerk of Committees), House of Commons

Carole Jacotine, Former IT Customer Services Manager

Neil Johnson, Former MP’s researcher

Andrew Kennon, Former Principal Clerk (Clerk of Committees) House of Commons

*Libby Kurien, Senior Clerk, House of Commons

*Arabella Lang, Parliament and Treaties Hub, House of Commons

*Duma Langton, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Amy Leversidge, Assistant General Secretary, FDA Union

Charlotte Littleboy, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

*Rowena MacDonald, Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Justin Madders MP, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston

*Emma Makey, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Kate Maltby, Writer

John Mann MP, MP for Bassetlaw

David Martin, Former Senior Office Clerk, Vote Office, House of Commons

Justine Matthews, Former Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Jenny McCullough, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Andrew McDonald, Former CEO of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Fiona McLean, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

*Zac Mead, Head of Customer and Staff Engagement, House of Commons

Alexandra Meakin, Former Committee Specialist, Public Administration Committee and Transport Committee, House of Commons

Jane Merrick, Political Journalist

Sue Monaghan, Former Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Lisa Nandy MP, MP for Wigan

Hannah Pearce, Former House of Commons media relations manager

Dave Penman, General Secretary, FDA Union

Jess Phillips MP, MP for Birmingham Yardley

Sarah Price, Former Clerk, House of Lords

Jane Quirk, Former IT Customer Relations Manager

Dominique Rees, Deputy Director, British Group Inter Parliamentary Union

*Nerys Roberts, Senior Library Clerk, House of Commons Library

Lucy Salek (Moore), Former Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, UK Branch

*Chris Shaw, Clerk of the BEIS select committee

Angus Sinclair, Former Private Secretary to the Speaker

*Hannah Stewart, Legal Specialist, House of Commons

Lauren Tait, International Projects Manager, British Group Inter Parliamentary Union

Juliet Taylor, Contractor for House of Commons

*Djuna Thurley, FDA Branch Chair, House of Commons

Nerys Welfoot, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Hannah White, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

*Louise Whitley, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Matthew Whittaker, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Lisette Whittaker, Former Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Vivian Widgery, Former Deputy Editor of Hansard, House of Commons

Eliot Wilson, Former Senior Clerk, House of Commons

Sarah Wollaston MP, MP for Totnes and Chair, Liaison Committee and Health Committee 

NEW – 24 October 2018

Aileen Walker, Former Director of Public Engagement, House of Commons

Kate Faragher, Director of BeSpokeSkills

Joanne Dunne (nee Larcombe), Former Committee Secretary, House of Commons

*Louise Butcher, Senior Research Clerk, House of Commons Library

*Gabriella Liberotti-Harrison, International Project Manager, House of Commons

*Fergus Reid, Deputy Principal Clerk, House of Commons

Steven Ayers, Former Library Clerk and Committee Specialist, House of Commons

*Alasdair MacKenzie, Education and Outreach Manager, UK Parliament

Daniel Whitford, Former Assistant Clerk, House of Commons

Sarah Clarkson, Former Deputy Representative of the House of Commons to the EU

Rebecca Short, Former Clerk, House of Commons

Maria Miller MP, MP for Basingstoke and Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee

Chris Tyler, Former Director of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

Sam Bacon, Former Political Advisor

*Richard Dawson, Senior Committee Assistant, House of Commons

Amy Tarr, Former Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Ruth Martin, Former Committee Specialist, House of Commons

Caroline Lucas MP, MP for Brighton Pavilion

*Philip Larkin, Committee Specialist, House of Commons

*staff currently working in UK Parliament