Recall petition for MP Rob Roberts would be wrong, says watchdog

It would be wrong to change rules so a disgraced Welsh MP is subject to a recall petition, a parliamentary watchdog has said.

Delyn MP Rob Roberts was suspended for six weeks after he was found to have sexually harassed an employee.

But he will not face a petition that could trigger a by-election.

The chairman of the panel that investigated the complaint said the rule change, proposed by Labour, would threaten the group's independence.

Sir Stephen Irwin, chairman of the Independent Expert Panel (IEP), said he was "seriously concerned" by the plan.

Labour said its bid was "perfectly workable".

MPs can be subject to a recall petition if they are suspended for 10 days after a report by the standards committee.

But a petition was not triggered in Mr Roberts' case, because the sanction was recommended by the IEP, which examines bullying and harassment complaints against MPs.

Parties on both sides of the house want to close the loophole and house leader Jacob Rees-Mogg tabled a motion to that effect to the Commons on Tuesday.

But the bid failed after Labour tabled a rival amendment attempting to make it retrospective, meaning it would apply to Mr Roberts.

Parliamentary procedure meant that the Labour amendment was considered to be in itself an objection to Mr Rees-Mogg's changes, stopping them from being agreed.

Mr Roberts sits as an independent after the whip was removed from him by the Conservatives, although he remains a member of the party.

Criticising the Labour amendment, Sir Stephen said he would be glad to see the "anomaly abolished for the future" provided his panel's independence was maintained.

"But that is a very different matter from giving any such abolition retrospective effect, so that the outcome in the case of an individual MP is altered," he wrote.

He said the Labour proposal went against the principles that sanctions determined by the IEP should be final and no retrospective sanctions could be imposed that were not available at the time.

"I also consider that this paragraph impinges on the independence of the IEP, since, if implemented, it would amount to a political decision affecting the sanction in an individual case."

He wrote it would be wrong for a sanction to be altered "by any other route than a proper appeal" as it would "set a very undesirable precedent".

Labour argued that the government has been able to make retrospective laws elsewhere and it was not right that an MP could sexually harass staff and return to Parliament.

It wants the UK government to make time for a vote on whether Mr Roberts would be subject to a recall.

Shadow leader of the house Thangam Debbonaire said: "There is no excuse for the government not to act on this before summer recess, to close the loophole, ensuring that the system has fairness at its heart and will allow his constituents to decide if he is the right person to represent them."

A Labour source later added it was "not unreasonable or without precedent that the recall loophole here would apply retrospectively" given changes that had been made to the recall law in the past to allow for a retrospective punishment, where an MP of convicted of a crime that occurred before the law came into force was subject to its provisions.

Mr Roberts' former employee said the MP repeatedly propositioned him and asked him to be "less alluring".

After his suspension ended, Mr Roberts has since appeared during Commons debates in person, including on Tuesday afternoon.