The Conversation (0)
Politics
Liam O'Dell
May 01, 2022
Minister blames misogyny culture in parliament on long working hours
Sky News
Despite female Tories reporting seeing a male colleague watching porn in the Commons, and the controversialMail article about Angela Rayner and Basic Instinct, one Conservative minister has said there isn’t a “culture of misogyny” in Parliament.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, appeared on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, during which he was asked about misogyny in light of Devon MP Neil Parish admitting he viewed pornography while at work.
He told the host of Sky News’ flagship political programme: “I don’t think there’s a culture of misogyny [in parliament]. I think the problem we have is that people are working in a really intense environment and they’re long hours.
“I think, generally, most people know their limits - they know how to act respectfully. But there are some instances where people don’t, frankly, act according to the high standards.”
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
We didn’t know working long hours increases your chances of being misogynistic…
Thankfully Twitter users were quick to point out the ridiculousness of his argument:
#Ridge: Is there a culture of misogyny in Parliament?\n\nKwasi Kwarteng: No... the problem is people are working in a really intense environment & long hours\n\nI'm sure many, many people, outside Parliament, work in intense environments with long hours & you don't see this behaviourpic.twitter.com/hfVkdJuKAw— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1651391009
"working in a really intense environment & long hours"pic.twitter.com/xu53MiQgsN— Jim Craig (@Jim Craig) 1651394828
I\u2019m sick of hearing this excuse that misogyny & abuse happens in parliament because they work long hours \n\nLike nobody else works hard \n\nBack to the drawing board kwasi kwarteng \n\n#raworth #SophyRidge #ToriesOut5thMaypic.twitter.com/uSnrbvL9ao— kerry \u270a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@kerry \u270a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651390825
How come if you ask a male tory MP like @KwasiKwarteng, they say there is NOT a culture of misogyny in Parliament, and yet if you ask a female MP, even tory ones, they say the exact opposite?\n\n#ridge— Sam (@Sam) 1651390467
I work in A&E.\nI think it's fair to say that I work in a very intense environment. \nI've never known anyone who's had to run off for a quick wank following a major trauma.\nKwasi Kwarteng illustrating just how fucked up and immoral his government is.\n#SundayMorning \n#Disgusting— Sir Ziggy (for services to eating guinea pig shit) (@Sir Ziggy (for services to eating guinea pig shit)) 1651398444
Rees-Mogg reflecting on Kwasi Kwarteng's explanation, that the intense environment in which MPs work, can lead to some MP's watching porn.\n#Ridgepic.twitter.com/pJcrXTkj9W— JohnMartin\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 #FBPPR (@JohnMartin\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 #FBPPR) 1651393648
Always been a bit perplexed how \u2018people work long hours\u2019 can be an explanation to questions around sexism & misogyny. Given that women work long hours in the intense environment of Westminster too, why is it that a majority of complaints seem to relate to men?https://twitter.com/ridgeonsunday/status/1520668894205292546\u00a0\u2026— Rob Powell (@Rob Powell) 1651397152
It wasn’t the only remark made by the Tory MP on Sunday which raised eyebrows, as he also dismissed claims his political party was “institutionally sexist” and said closing bars in parliament would be “excessively puritanical”.
And while Mr Kwarteng is denying the existence of a misogyny culture in parliament, we can’t help but wonder if our justice secretary, Dominic Raab, has finally learned what that word actually means…
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.