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