The Open Secret: Part One – The Sex Pest
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2022
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the first episode of this three-part series, Liz Bates, Sky’s political correspondent, speaks to Emily (not her real name) who describes the night she says she was sexually assaulted by an MP, who is now a serving cabinet minister. Plus, we hear other stories of sexual misconduct at the very top of government, and ask why victims still feel they have no-one to turn to.
If you want to get in touch about anything you hear in this episode, Liz is on twitter @wizbates
Political news editor: Agnes Chambre
Senior political news editor: Louis Degenhardt
Podcast Producer: Rosie Gillott
Podcast Editor: Philly Beaumont
Sound Designer: Tom Burchill
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I think it's that way. |
| 0:02.0 | Yeah? |
| 0:03.0 | Yes. |
| 0:04.0 | Yeah, but we can get in because we've got our passes. |
| 0:06.0 | Okay. |
| 0:07.0 | I've worked in Westminster for the best part of a decade. |
| 0:10.0 | And so has my producer, Aggie. |
| 0:13.0 | That's who you can hear there. |
| 0:15.0 | And still, we get lost here sometimes. |
| 0:18.0 | It's definitely not down there. I actually think we went through the wrong door. |
| 0:24.5 | I got my first job as a parliamentary journalist back in my mid-20s. |
| 0:29.3 | That's when I first met Aggie, also in her first job. |
| 0:33.8 | We both know what it's like when you first start working in Parliament. |
| 0:39.6 | Feeling in awe of the place, intimidated by the building, but also the people in it, MPs. |
| 0:49.5 | To a young person starting out in politics are like celebrities. |
| 0:56.9 | It's a privilege, but there's another side to it. The bad behaviour, the gossip, the rumours. It's not called the Westminster |
| 1:05.0 | Village for nothing. Like any village, and I should know I grew up in one, |
| 1:12.6 | everyone knows everyone else's business. |
| 1:18.6 | Over the years, I've heard stories of sexual harassment and bullying. |
| 1:24.6 | They mostly stay hidden because powerful people tend to be protected by the system and by each other. |
| 1:33.1 | But now we're going to tell some of those stories. |
| 1:38.7 | I was told that the guy who hired him said, oh, he's a good looking man, he wouldn't do that. He has women throwing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sky News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sky News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

