"She's so cute, so sweet, I can't wait to beat her. Can she take a beating?" Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said in the House of Commons, during Business Questions to the leader of the House. She added: "Not my words, Mr Speaker, the words of the MP for Burton, while barraging two of his female constituents with thousands of text messages.



"Last night the leader of the House's party gave him and the MP for Dover the whip back without any due process. What message does this send about how any process here in this place can ever be trusted?"

She went on: "What matters more? Political power or protecting victims of sexual harassment and abuse?"

In response, the leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, said she had not been involved in the decision to readmit the two MPs, which was made by Conservative party whips, but said she was determined to bring about change in Westminster.



"I am absolutely committed to changing the culture of this place and to seeing that everybody here is treated with dignity and respect," Leadsom said.