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A Conservative MP who grabbed a climate activist at a black-tie City dinner breached the ministerial code, a government investigation has found.
Mark Field was suspended as a Foreign Office minister after he marched Greenpeace activist Janet Barker out of the event at London’s Mansion House.
The Cabinet Office probe found he had been “justified in intervening” but could have “simply blocked her way”.
He will not receive any punishment as he is no longer in Parliament.
Mr Field, 55, had been MP for the Cities of London and Westminster since 2001 but stood down at the last election.
Protesters dressed in black tie and red dresses crowded into the building
Mr Field grabbed Ms Barker by the neck as protesters disrupted the beginning of then-chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech in June.
The report found that while Mr Field had had to make a “split-second decision”, his actions “were not consistent with the high standards of behaviour expected of ministers”.
The prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Alex Allan said the former MP could have waited for “others to shepherd her out rather than pushing her by the neck out of the room and down the stairs”.
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Conservative Party
Mark Field stood down as an MP at the last election
Following the event Mr Field claimed he had been “genuinely worried she might have been armed” but he “deeply” regretted his actions.
Ms Barker said she had been left “shaken up” by what happened and suggested Mr Field should “go to anger management classes”.
City of London Police investigated allegations the former minister had assaulted Ms Barker but the case was closed with officers “taking no further action”.
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