THE wife of a Tory MP accused of watching porn in the House of Commons revealed she is “very” embarrassed by her husband – but has vowed to stick by him.
Susan Parish said it would be “stupid” to let Neil Parish‘s ogling come between them, adding “you wouldn’t have many wives in the world” if women were “mad” with every man who watched porn.
Neil Parish turned himself in to Parliament‘s sleaze-buster on Friday after two days of a fevered whodunnit in Westminster.
The 65-year-old grandad had not let on to his partner of 40 years the allegations were about him.
But by the time he rushed home to explain himself yesterday afternoon, loving wife Susan already knew, forcing Mr Parish to grovel: “I’m sorry you married a f***ing idiot.”
Mrs Parish later told The Times: “It was all very embarrassing. My breath was taken away, frankly.
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“People shouldn’t be looking at pornography. He would never just sit there with people looking. These ladies were quite right to be as cross as they were because I was cross, too.
“I’ve just no idea what happens in these circumstances.”
The MP’s wife slammed porn as “degrading’ and “demanding” and said “it’s just so stupid”.
But she added: “I think it would be a bit stupid (to let it come between us). As I say, I’m fairly tough. You’ve got to carry on, haven’t you?”
Conservative bosses have stripped Mr Parish of the party whip pending a probe into the bombshell claims from two female colleagues.
It comes as female Cabinet minister and Attorney General Suella Braverman accused some male MPs of behaving like “animals” as she called for an urgent discussion about moral standards at Westminster.
Approached by Trending In The News outside his Somerset farmhouse last night, Mr Parish said: “I need to speak to my wife, which is most important at the moment.”
He added: “It was a complete mistake and I will man up to it as they say. My main concern at the moment is my very supportive wife. Stupidity rages.”
Mr Parish suggested the porn had been sent to him and he had opened it “in error” but refused to expand further.
He is also refusing to resign his Tory stronghold seat of Tiverton and Honiton which he has served since 2010.
But he told this newspaper: “I will not remain if I am found guilty.”
Since Trending In The News revealed the explosive accusations on Wednesday morning, Tory whips have closed ranks to keep the culprit’s name secret.
Mr Parish did not even out himself when quizzed about “porngate” during a live telly interview earlier this week.
With a straight face, he denied there was a culture of bad behaviour in Parliament – although admitted some MPs did “step over the line”.
He admitted last night: “I wasn’t going to until such time as I had referred myself to the authorities.”
But after innocent Tory MPs were dragged into the frenzied Westminster game of Guess Who he met with Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris and they agreed to go public.
He said he had been unable to call his wife to let her know he was the mystery MP because he had been at a constituency surgery and his phone was flat.
Parish now faces a probe by Parliament’s Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone – who has the power to recommend expulsion from the Commons.
And it was also confirmed a separate probe by Westminster’s Independent Complaints Grievance System has been launched, meaning at least one of the female witnesses has lodged a complaint.
In a statement, Mr Parish said he will be “cooperating fully with any investigation” and will “continue to perform my duties as MP”.
But he faced calls to quit immediately. Longest-serving MP Harriet Harman blasted: “He should resign immediately if that’s what he’s done. “Why make these women MPs go through the process of having to report to the standards committee?
“Why make the standards committee do an investigation when by his actions, he’s not only shamed himself and his party but cast a stain on the whole of the House of Commons?
Ex-Tory Cabinet Minister Karen Bradley urged Mr Parish to steer clear of Parliament while he remains under the microscope.
Labour’s shadow Commons leader Thangham Debbonaire accused Tory chiefs of trying to “cover up” their MP’s “disgusting behaviour”.
The porn saga blew up on Tuesday night when two female Tories claimed they had seen a male colleague watching porn in the Commons at a meeting of women MPs.
After Trending In The News exposed the shocking claims the next morning the floodgates opened to MPs sharing their own horror stories of Westminster’s pervy culture.
Top female Cabinet Minister Anne Marie-Trevelyan today described being “pinned up against a wall” by a lecherous male colleague.
The Trade Sec said as a “plain-speaking woman” she has been at the “sharp end of misogyny”.
She said: “We might describe it as wandering hands. We might describe it as, a number of years ago, being pinned up against a wall by a male MP – who is no longer in the House – declaring that I must want him because he was a powerful man.
“These sorts of things, the power abuses that a very small minority thank goodness of male colleagues show is completely unacceptable.”
She said some MPs were “repeat offenders” at trying to make unwanted advances and urged men to “keep your hands in your pockets”.
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Her horrific experiences have been echoed by female colleagues, including fellow Cabinet Minister Suella Braverman who today described some MPs behaving like wild animals in the parliamentary bars.
It has sparked fresh demands for a Commons booze ban – but Ms Trevelyan rejected such action and instead promoted “responsible drinking”.
