A Labour MP who has been suspended from the party over allegations of sexual harassment has “boasted” about bringing sex workers into parliament for drinks, two of his colleagues have claimed.
One Labour MP and a Labour peer told Sky News it was “well known” in Westminster that Geraint Davies would take the women to one of the Commons’ bars and “show them off” on the terrace outside.
A former parliamentary staffer has also claimed Mr Davies made “inappropriate advances” towards her when she was working a young researcher in the early 2000s, “including sexual comments and inappropriate touching” – and he only stopped after she threatened to tell someone.
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“It’s a well known secret in Westminster about who to avoid and the parties need to act on these rumours before the perpetrators drag everyone down with them,” she told Sky News.
And another of the party’s MPs said she had heard numerous complaints from women regarding his behaviour, telling Sky News: “He’s certainly made me feel uncomfortable over the years… just always standing too close and being weird.”
Allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Davies first surfaced in an article from Politico on Thursday morning.
He has not responded to any of Sky News’ requests for a statement, but regarding their claims, he told the website: “I don’t recognise the allegations suggested and do not know who has made them. None of them, as far as I know, has been lodged as complaints with the Labour Party or parliament.
“If I have inadvertently caused offence to anyone, then I am naturally sorry as it is important that we share an environment of mutual and equal respect for all.”
Labour suspended the MP from the party and urged those who had been impacted by his behaviour to make a formal complaint so they could carry out an investigation.
But Sky News has seen evidence the party’s whips’ office, responsible for the welfare of Labour MPs, had been told about the allegations months ago.
‘Openly boast about bringing escorts’
Speaking to Sky News after the party suspended Mr Davies, one Labour MP said: “He would openly boast about bringing escorts and prostitutes onto the terrace and show them off.”
They said party officials had warned him to stop doing it, but no formal complaints had been made against him, adding: “They can’t take any action over hearsay.”
The claims were backed up by a Labour peer from the House of Lords, who saw him on the terrace with young women, and said there was always talk of him “favouring Eastern Europeans”.
The MP described Mr Davies, who represents Swansea West, as “a wrong ‘un” and “a sleazy man”, saying: “He would look you up and down, make lewd comments and touch you around the waist when he came up behind you”.
They said they and their colleagues were pleased the allegations had come to light, adding: “It is something he does to everyone. It is not unusual; it is just the pattern of his behaviour.
“He is one of the people that when people are new, they are told ‘don’t be alone with him, he’s a wrong ‘un’, and warned away from him.”
But they said they had sympathy with party officials, who they claimed could not act without formal complaints being made.