New rules to clampdown on bullying and sexual harassment in Parliament have been hailed as a "potential game-changer".

MPs and peers face being suspended or in extreme cases recalled or expelled under the most serious punishments revealed in a report on Thursday.

A survey commissioned alongside the new rules lay bare the prevalence of harassment and intimidation at the heart of Westminster.

More than half of MPs and peers' staff - 53% - said they had experienced, witnessed or heard of bullying or harassment as part of their job.

Some 75% of those who experienced it directly did not speak to their boss.


And only 50% of respondents working in the Commons and 52% of those in the Lords said they had confidence in authorities to manage the complaints.

Image: Andrea Leadsom published the report on Thursday

Sexual harassment specifically proved prominent, with nearly one in five parliamentary workers reporting they had been subjected to it.

The survey was open for one week and attracted 1,377 replies - 17% of workers on the estate.

Green MP Caroline Lucas, who sat on the working group that commissioned the survey and report, said the findings "have the potential to shake up a really toxic political culture in Westminster".

Asked if the recommendations went far enough, she told Sky News: "It's adequate; it's a potential game-changer."

Image: Caroline Lucas called the changes a 'game-changer'

Ms Lucas asked why mandatory training for MPs, peers and staff was not being introduced until the next parliament - expected to be 2022 - but said "the fact it's there at all is a significant step".

Commenting on the survey results, the Brighton Pavilion MP added: "Those figures are shocking.

"People are entitled to expect a safe and dignified environment, nowhere more so than in Parliament, which should be a beacon of best practice, not running to catch up.

"People who know the culture won't be surprised but it urgently needs to be changed."

The report comes from a cross-party group, chaired by Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom.

It was set up in the wake of the harassment scandal that saw Sir Michael Fallon resign as Defence Secretary and took evidence from experts for over six weeks.

Image: Sir Michael Fallon resigned as Defence Secretary after claims of sexual harassment

It appeared to challenge criticism from MPs and campaigners that came in January when Sky News obtained a leaked copy of the draft version.

Responding to criticism that a change in workplace culture was a "long-term project beyond the working group's terms of reference", the updated report said it was making recommendations for both "the immediate future and the longer-term".

Ms Leadsom said in a statement on Thursday that "it is a right not a privilege to be treated with dignity and respect at work".

She promised that work to achieve that would "proceed at pace over the next few months".

MPs and peers will vote to accept the plans, with a debate taking place in the last week of February or first week of March.

The working group will become a "steering group" to oversee its report's implementation, with a review planned after its first six to 18 months to analyse its effect.