“DO as we say, not as we do” should be inscribed above the entrance to the Palace of Westminster.

The House of Commons women and equalities committee has published a report on sexual harassment in the workplace after a six-month investigation.

It says sexual harassment is “an everyday occurrence” in British industry and that employers routinely use “gagging orders” or Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to bully victims into silence.

The report’s publication comes a matter of days after the Commons voted by 79 votes to 22 to keep secret the identities of MPs facing sexual harassment or bullying allegations!

Even the chairman of the Commons standards committee, Sir Keith Barron, said the decision “will be presented as MPs trying to cover-up their misdoings.”

Within hours of the vote, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s website deleted all details of “current inquiries” from its site.

The women and equalities committee report also makes no mention of the embarrassing fact it was recently disclosed that £2.4m had been paid out by the Palace of Westminster itself in NDAs to former Commons or Lords employees between 2013 and 2017.

A former employee of John Bercow, the House of Commons Speaker, was among those silence was bought, but he blew the whistle on the practice last month in breach of his NDA.

Public confidence in MPs and Lords has already been shattered by the “expenses scandal” which exploded in 2009. It led to the jailing of a number of MPs and Lords for fraudulent expenses claims.

Dodgy dealings of this sort have surfaced again recently with the 30 days suspension of North Antrim MP, Ian Paisley, over his failure to declare family holidays in Sri Lanka worth more than £100,000, paid for by the island’s Government.

“Practice what you preach” is a refrain that should be printed on all of the very well-remunerated, leather seats in both Houses of Parliament.

James Roberts,

Wallasey