LONDON: British Interior Minister Amber Rudd declared Sunday that a scandal over sexual harassment rocking the country’s political circles was a “watershed moment” that was “clearing out” inappropriate behavior.
She denied that Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority government was at risk after Michael Fallon quit as defense secretary earlier this week and as two other ministers remain under investigation for misconduct.
Rudd told BBC television that the end result of the claims was “clearing out Westminster of that sort of behavior.”
“And I think that Westminster afterward, including the government, will be better for it,” she said.
Fallon announced his resignation on Wednesday after apologizing for touching a journalist’s knee in 2002.
Another journalist alleged this weekend that Fallon had “lunged” at her after a lunch in 2003. She said she reported the incident to Downing Street this week, and he resigned hours later.
May’s de facto deputy Damian Green, meanwhile, is being investigated for his own alleged inappropriate behavior toward a journalist, which he strongly denies.
Rudd confirmed that the probe had been widened to include a newspaper report on Sunday that “extreme” pornographic material had been found on his parliamentary computer in 2008.
Green, an old university friend of May’s, has strongly denied the story in the Sunday Times and accused the police source behind it of trying to cause him political damage.
“I know that the Cabinet Office is going to be looking at this tomorrow along with the wider inquiry about Damian, and I do think that we shouldn’t rush to allege anything until that inquiry has taken place,” Rudd said.
The prime minister is also due to meet with other party leaders on Monday to discuss a new parliamentary complaints system in the wake of a wave of allegations, many involving MPs and junior staff or journalists.
On Friday, she announced a new code of conduct for her own Conservative party — under which three MPs were referred for investigation this weekend.
Another Conservative MP was suspended on Friday, while the opposition Labour party has also suspended one of its lawmakers.
A Scottish minister resigned on Saturday after admitting his behavior “might have made others uncomfortable,” while a Welsh minister was sacked Friday following allegations about his personal conduct.
UK Parliament sleaze row ‘clearing out’ bad behavior
UK Parliament sleaze row ‘clearing out’ bad behavior
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
