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Nigel Farage has refused to take up parliament’s anti-bullying training, branding the scheme “woke” and saying he has no intention of engaging with it.
The Reform UK leader is one of five MPs to have not taken up the course, which is designed to explain the rules around harassment and sexual misconduct.
Others include two Conservative MPs, the former minister Neil O’Brien and Dr Caroline Johnson, and two DUP MPs, Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell, The Times reported.
Figures published by parliament show that eight others are on the waiting list for the training, while 637 MPs have completed it.
Those who breach parliament’s rules on sexual misconduct and harassment can be sanctioned in a range of ways, from being forced to apologise to being suspended from the Commons, which in some cases can force a by-election.
Asked about his refusal to take up the training, a spokesman for Mr Farage said: “Mr Farage has not taken part in ‘behaviour code awareness training’ and has no intention of engaging with this woke scheme.”
Former shadow minister Charlotte Nichols, who has campaigned for a better working environment in parliament, urged all MPs to take the training.
She told The Times: “As MPs are not just office holders but employers, it is vital that we practise what we preach on robust standards in the workplace, which includes a duty and responsibility to attend all relevant training to uphold those standards. The culture of parliament has to change and MPs must lead on this.”
Bullying has been a problem on the estate, with some MPs having been suspended temporarily while others have been booted out of parliament altogether.
Peter Bone was suspended from the Commons for six weeks last October after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
He lost a recall petition triggered by the suspension, forcing a by-election in his Wellingborough constituency, which the Conservatives lost.
Mr Bone was found by parliament’s behaviour watchdog to have “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a staff member in 2012 and 2013, including that he “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” an employee and “repeatedly physically struck and threw things” at him.
Mr Farage’s refusal to engage with the anti-bullying course comes after a poll for The Independent showing he has led Reform UK to within touching distance of the Conservatives – setting up a three-way battle at the top of British politics.
According to the latest Techne UK poll, Reform have nudged up one point to 22 per cent, with Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives on 25 per cent and Keir Starmer’s under-fire Labour government on 27 per cent, both unchanged.
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