Watching porn at work? The Tories aren’t taking running the country seriously

It was only earlier this week that some Tories were complaining about Angela Rayner allegedly ‘distracting’ the prime minister by crossing her legs

It’s worth remembering that watching porn at work is a sackable offence (UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)

Yesterday afternoon, it was reported that a senior Tory MP had been caught watching porn by one of his colleagues. Unsurprisingly, it has become the biggest story in Westminster and politics, for today at least.

I’m not going to be puritanical about this – if MPs want to watch porn, that’s their choice. But it’s also too easy to be dismissive about this – as either something people just do or something the left is once again making a mountain out of a molehill about.

So here’s my case for taking it seriously. First, lawmakers should not be lawbreakers. This is a fundamental and important cornerstone of democracy, because it means everyone is treated equally by the law. It may not always work perfectly in practice, but it’s worth defending.

And it’s worth remembering that watching porn at work is a sackable offence. So why not here? Only last week, the minister for Brexit opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, was making a big deal about how seriously Tories take work – by putting up “wish you were here” notices on desks of people working from home.

So the Tories take it seriously when ordinary people prefer to work from home so they can avoid long commutes, but not when one of their colleagues is caught watching porn on the job?

Secondly, it is a welcome sign of change that this is being taken seriously. A culture where an MP can get away with watching porn at work is one that doesn’t take sexual harassment seriously.

In 2019, three Indian politicians were caught watching porn on their phones. Two resigned out of embarrassment, but one got promoted. That’s the sign of a political culture that doesn’t take sexual harassment seriously enough.

In India, women frequently complain of wanting stronger laws against harassment and even marital rape, but are mostly ignored. What’s notable here is that male Tory MPs have largely said nothing about this scandal. If a Labour MP had been caught watching porn, calls to resign would be equally loud from his own side. That’s the difference between Labour and the Conservatives.

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One Tory sympathiser on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the Times sketch writer Quentin Letts, said: “If I can just play devil’s advocate for a second, I’d say if you’ve ever been in the House of Commons it’s an extremely boring place. I think it would be wrong for viewers to think that parliamentarians are constantly thinking about great matters of state when they’re in the House of Commons.”

It was only earlier this week that some Tories were complaining about Angela Rayner allegedly “distracting” the prime minister by crossing her legs. The Conservative Party seems to have run out of things to do. They seem very bored and tired and distracted by doing the job of running the country. Perhaps they should let someone else do it.

And it’s not about being puritanical or morally righteous. If people want to watch porn at home, that’s their own business. But doing it at your place of work, one which comes with huge power, carries extra responsibility. It’s clear this government is not taking that seriously enough.