Ex-Labour MP Neil Coyle is suspended from the House of Commons for FIVE DAYS after inquiry finds ‘drunken abuse’ of staffer and ‘racial’ harassment of journalist
Neil Coyle is suspended from the House of Commons for five days after an inquiry found his abusive behaviour.
The parliamentary watchdog has recommended punishment for two incidents in the Strangers’ Bar on the estate.
On the first occasion, Mr Coyle targeted another MP’s assistant with ‘foul mouth and drunkenness’.
In the other case, Mr Coyle was found to have harassed a journalist with swear words with ‘racial overtones’.
Neil Coyle is suspended from the House of Commons for five days after an inquiry found his abusive behaviour. He sat as an independent MP after the Labor whip was removed
Mr Coyle, who sat as an Independent MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark after the Labor whip was withdrawn, has accepted the conclusions of the Independent Expert Panel and Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
Earlier this week, the 44-year-old gave an interview in which he insisted that he has now stopped drinking alcohol.
The panel recommended a two-day suspension for the first incident and three days for the second.
Political journalist Henry Dyer, now working for The Guardian, said: ‘Anyone who works in parliament should be able to do this without harassment and abuse.
“I spoke out to raise awareness of racism, especially anti-Asian racism, and inappropriate behavior.
“I am grateful to the ICGS for the way they handled this matter, and to my colleagues and friends for their support and kindness. I am pleased that this process has been completed and I can continue my work as a journalist covering Westminster.”
The report said that ‘with regard to both episodes, it was clear that very marked alcohol abuse was at the root of the events’.
Speaking to the Mirror earlier this week, Mr Coyle said he drank excessively five nights a week and after the death of his father and a close friend in 2021, he drank even more.
He drank three or four pints an hour in Parliament’s Strangers’ Bar.
But a doctor told him he would have a stroke or a heart attack and die if he didn’t stop.
