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Former Tory MP Mark Field breached the ministerial code when he grabbed a climate change protester by the neck to eject her from a black-tie City dinner, a Government investigation has found.
Mr Field, who stood down from Parliament after being suspended as a Foreign Office minister, grabbed Greenpeace activist Janet Barker and forced her from the event in June.
A Cabinet Office investigation found he was “justified in intervening to try to stop” Ms Barker from reaching the top table – as protesters disrupted the beginning of then-chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech.
But the report found that though he had to make a “split-second decision” he “had the option of simply blocking her way” during the incident, in London’s Mansion House.
He could have also waited for “others to shepherd her out rather than pushing her by the neck out of the room and down the stairs”, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Alex Allan wrote.
After reviewing footage of the incident and the comments of interviewees, he found “that the actions Mr Field took, and the force he used, were not consistent with the high standards of behaviour expected of ministers and with treating Ms Barker with consideration and respect”.
“As such it was a breach of the ministerial code,” Sir Alex added.
Mr Field, who joined the Commons representing the Cities of London and Westminster in 2001, will receive no punishment over the ruling – because he is no longer a minister.
He was suspended by then-PM Theresa May.
She reviewed footage of the incident and described it as “very concerning”.
The City of London Police investigated allegations that Mr Field assaulted Ms Barker.
However, the case has since been closed with officers “taking no further action”.
Mr Field had claimed he was “genuinely worried she might have been armed” but that he “deeply” regretted the incident.
Ms Barker said it left her “shaken up”, adding: “There was over 300 people in that room at the time and there was only one that reacted in that way.
“We had that message, we had the climate emergency, and I think it was quite obvious that we were there for that reason – for a peaceful protest and we weren’t armed.
“I was armed with peer reviewed science – the message that we were giving out. That’s all I was armed with.”
Reporting by PA.
