Neil Parish says William Wragg should be able to remain as a Tory MP.
Parish, who resigned as an MP after admitting to watching pornography in the Commons told GB News: “I have some empathy with William, because he is a decent enough guy, albeit he's made mistakes. I think in the end, he’s apologised and I think he should be able to carry on being an MP and I think he should probably carry on having the Conservative whip. But that will be for the party to decide and in the end, of course, it's a personal decision as to what you do. As an individual I took that personal decision.
“Parliament is made up of 650 members of parliament, they come from all walks of life. They have all kinds of sexualities. And they are individuals and some are stronger than others. And some do stupid things and pay a heavy price for it. I think sometimes perhaps we, as politicians, set ourselves up too much. People expect us to behave in a way, and we do let ourselves down and let our other colleagues down when we make mistakes. But I think that we are all frail, like all individuals and have made mistakes. So, I think it was probably better if he had come clean sooner. But I think he's done the right thing now.
“I would just say to members of the public, you expect more and you probably deserve more, but I think you’ve also got to accept that we are all human beings at the end of the day, and we can make mistakes.”
Explaining his reaction to the apology Wragg made, Parish continued: “My immediate thought was that he is a really decent guy. I know William, and I like him. But you have to be so careful when you are a member of parliament, especially giving out pictures and then of course being in a place where you can be potentially blackmailed. I was fortunate enough in that I was married long before I went into politics. When you are in politics, and a public figure, if you are dating in any sort of shape or form, you have to be careful, because people can use that. I think this is probably very much a wakeup call not just for William, but for several others I suspect.”
Reflecting on his own behaviour which led to his downfall he said: “I don't try and justify it for one moment. I mean, I made a huge mistake, and I resigned and left. You know, I was doing something I really shouldn't have been doing, I was tempted and I did it. But I wasn't actually meaning to affect anybody else apart from my dear wife, who was very understanding about it. But like I said, otherwise, when you are not in a permanent relationship, then I think it puts even more pressure on you, and it can be exploited as well.”
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