Former MP Neil Parish has revealed the police “kindly” confiscated his shotguns to stop him shooting himself after being caught watching porn in the House of Commons.
The 66-year-old farmer has admitted in a frank interview he was “not feeling in the best place” having “blown up” his parliamentary career of 12 years.
He also claimed he had been left to “drown” by Tory chief whip Chris-Heaton Harris in the wake of the scandal, which broke amid accusations of misogyny and sexual misconduct at Westminster.
Mr Parish quit Parliament in May after he admitted watching adult material twice on his phone in parliament, having been spotted by two female Tory MPs.
He said the first time was accidental while looking for tractors online but the second was “a moment of madness”.
Speaking to LBC about his experience in the aftermath of the controversy, Mr Parish said: “Have you had three days of the paparazzi outside of your house shouting abuse at you?
“It is enough to frighten anybody, and I don’t frighten easily.”
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He went on: “I have had a couple of death threats and you have got all these cameras outside your house. And David Amess… you know, I had an office three doors down from him.
“I was not going to put my wife through this. I spent the whole three days trying to make sure they didn’t have the house in full view of the cameras. I think I largely managed to succeed in that.
“It’s not easy. And when you go to the chief whip and ask for help, you expect it. You are thrown over the side of a ship, and then you are left to drown.
“That’s how it works and fine, but I saw (former chief whip) Mark Spencer on the podcast, Telegraph podcast, saying how caring they all were. I need to put it out on record, they are not.”
“This idea that they are all there caring for us is nonsense.”
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Mr Parish told LBC: “The police very kindly and rightly took away – because I am a farmer, you see – I have got shotguns, so they took those away from me.
“Because when you have blown up your parliamentary career for 12 years, you are not feeling in the best place, and they took them away for my own safety, not that I was going to shoot anybody else, in case I shot myself.
“I did say to them in a moment of black humour, ‘I am a very bad shot, I will probably miss’, but they didn’t, naturally, see the joke at the time, or nor was it very funny.”
During the interview, Mr Parish insisted what he did was “immoral” but “not illegal”.
Asked if he had been “done in” by some of his colleagues, he replied: “I think probably I was.
“Now, I was wrong to be watching it: it was very immoral, it wasn’t illegal, it was immoral, and I shouldn’t have been doing it.
“I was right in the corner of the House of Commons as you go into the lobby to vote, so this idea I think people have got that I was right in the middle of the House of Commons flaunting it is absolutely wrong.
“I wasn’t proud of what I was doing and it was very wrong I was doing it.
“I asked to be able to apologise if I caused offence, I was not given that opportunity by the chief whip and I was thrown to the press wolves.”
His exit from parliament triggered a by-election in the one-time Tory safe seat of Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, which was taken on Thursday by the Liberal Democrats, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 24,000,
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Mr Parish argued Boris Johnson must take some responsibility for the humiliating loss..
He said: “I think he is playing a very dangerous game now, he really is.
“He has to face up to the reality, that, yes, I caused the by-election, but I didn’t lose the by-election.
“It’s a safe seat. It would have been a reduced majority under normal times, and we would have returned (the Conservative candidate) Helen Hurford quite comfortably, but the trouble was, naturally, it was a referendum on the prime minister, and he must take some responsibility.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
