Surrey police have detained and questioned Tory MP Crispin Blunt on charges of rape and possessing prohibited substances.
The Conservatives have now suspended the whip for the 63-year-old Reigate MP and urged him to avoid the parliamentary estate.
Who is Crispin Blunt?
From 2010 to 2012, he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Youth Justice in the Ministry of Justice, and from 2015 to 2017, he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
One of the three sons of English parents Adrienne and Major-General Peter Blunt (1923–2003), Blunt was brought up in Germany. He received his education at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree and the Queen’s Medal, as well as a regular commission. From 1981 to 1984, he studied politics at University College, Durham, where he was elected president of the Durham Union Society in 1983. He graduated from the Cranfield School of Management with an MBA in 1991.
What allegations did the MP have and why?
Crispin Blunt, a senior Conservative MP, was arrested and charged with rape and drug possession. In regard to the same incident, he said he had previously spoken with police a few weeks prior regarding an alleged extortion.
A police spokesman said: “We can confirm a man in his 60s was arrested yesterday morning (25 October) in Horley, on suspicion of rape and possession of controlled substances”.
During an interview Blunt said: According to reports, an MP was arrested yesterday in connection with a rape allegation. I confirm that the MP was me. The arrest necessitates formal notice of the speaker and chief whip.
I’ve been interviewed twice in relation to this issue, the first time three weeks ago when I originally expressed my worry about extortion.
The second time was… under caution after being arrested.” The arrest was needless because I am still willing to fully cooperate with the inquiry, which I am convinced will result in no charges.
Credit:Cityam
What is happening to the MP now?
Following Surrey police’s announcement that a man in his 60s had been detained on Wednesday and then freed on bail, Blunt, who has since been suspended by the party, published a statement. Following the initial allegations on Thursday night about the arrest of an unidentified Conservative MP, Mr. Blunt took to Twitter/X to make a commitment to clear his name.
Following his identification, Blunt had his whip suspended while the police investigated. As a result, he is now an independent, and it is believed that he has been instructed not to enter the parliamentary estate. Former justice minister and chair of the foreign affairs committee of parliament, the MP for Reigate, expressed confidence that no charges would come from the probe.
It is the latest in a long line of arrests of MPs for alleged sexual crimes, according to EL.
Another serving Conservative MP, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was detained on charges of indecent assault, sexual assault, and rape in May 2022. He hasn’t been charged yet. Charlie Elphicke, the former MP for Dover, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2020 on three counts of sexual assault against two women, and Imran Ahmad Khan, the former Wakefield MP was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old child.
