Several were willing to give Neil Parish the benefit of the suspicion pending the outcome of the investigation. But most people in the market town of Tiverton in Devon on Saturday did not have much sympathy for their MP.
“He just has to admit what he did and get away,” said Hannah Tucker, a 32-year-old supermarket employee who shopped with her husband, Liam. “Tories are a joke. They deal with all sorts of things – and most of the time they get away with it. They must be stopped. “
Liam, a highway technician, said it was never acceptable to look at the material Parish allegedly saw at work. “Scandals keep coming. I will never vote for Tori.
Katie Oakley, 40, an environmentalist, was walking around town with her four-year-old daughter. “This sums up what everyone thinks about the government, another shocking incident in a long line.
“I think this shows how disconnected the members of the elite are from normal society. They think they can do things that ordinary people can’t.
“This is not a brilliant advertisement for our city,” Tiverton said in a bad light. This is not good for the country’s image abroad. And that’s not good for society. “
Katie Oakley. “I think it shows how uncomfortable the members of the elite are,” Oakley said. Photo: Jim Weilman / Guardian
Thomas, a middle-aged man selling candy thread at the city’s historic bag market, said his wife would kill him if he caught him watching pornography. “If he is proven to have done so, he must leave. He is a member of our parliament and he must have the respect to do it right. “
What was worrying about Thomas was that it came as no surprise. “Honestly, nothing surprises me now. That’s how bad it is. “
Although Parish lives on his farm across the border in Somerset, he is a well-known figure in Tiverton. He was first elected 12 years ago and has doubled his majority since then.
North Devon Tory MP Seleine Saxby said Parish has always been a loyal and supportive colleague. But she shocked: “No one wants to think about their MP sitting on green benches and watching videos to the point, certainly not this kind of video.
Husband and wife Liam and Hannah Tucker: “Tories are a joke. They fit everyone. Photo: Jim Weilman / Guardian
Speaking on BBC Radio Devon, she also suggested that he may be prone to accidents. “There is no colleague who is more likely than Neil to have the accident he described. I think anyone who slips or is a little short-sighted when we get older will know that the first thing we want to do is try to turn it off. This may involve looking at your phone quite carefully. “
Gillian Evans, chairman of the Conservatives and Honiton Conservatives, declined to speak, referring callers to the Conservative headquarters.
Fortunately for the Tory Municipal Council in Mead Devon, which is located in Tiverton, councilors are not in favor of elections this spring. “I guess that’s a good thing,” said Ray Radford, a senior conservative adviser who also chairs the council. “I really don’t know what to do about it,” Radford added. “It simply came to our notice then. As far as I know, he is an honorable MP who serves the constituency well. We’ll have to see what the investigation shows. “
In the bag market, turner Max Hall, 59, said it was simple. “If he is found guilty, he must be fired, and if they can get back some of the money they paid him as an MP, they must. He seems to have shown a complete lack of respect for anyone who voted for him. “
Hall’s wife, Jane, 56, added: “When people are patient and scraping, he is obviously sitting there watching porn. He should be fired, but he has Boris as his role model. He was throwing a party when people were dying.
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