Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has said she hopes the government will ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) sooner than September, speaking on BBC Question Time in the wake of Russell Brand's conviction.
Brand was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Monday to 10 and a half years in prison for one count of rape and three sexual assaults on four different women.
Question Time debate on protecting women
The first topic on the programme, presented by Fiona Bruce from Exeter, focused on protecting women from men in power. The panel included defence minister Luke Pollard, shadow AI minister Ben Spencer, Layla Moran, Matt Goodwin from Reform UK, and comedian and podcaster Deborah Frances-White.
After Frances-White described her experience with a "high profile man" at a showbiz Christmas party, Moran addressed the wider issue of NDAs silencing victims.
Moran's call for action
Moran said: "I would love to tell you that it is just this industry but we know full well it isn't." She added: "At the moment it is still possible to have non-disclosure agreements that are silencing these victims, these are still possible to do. The government has agreed to ban them. It's not enforced yet but I hope that they will do it sooner than later - they say September, I think they can go earlier."
She concluded: "We cannot have people being paid off, women's silence, should not and cannot be bought."
Deborah Frances-White's account
Frances-White described being a plus one at a big showbiz Christmas party, saying: "A high profile man, a famous man, who runs in the same circles as those who have been in the news in the last couple of weeks did a turn around the room walked past me, put his face into my cleavage and moved his head back and forth, in the manor that some men call 'motoboating', unpleasantly."
She added: "I knew full-well if I made a complaint I would be asked to leave the party, there's no question." She said he later "came around again and put his tongue in my mouth, he never said a single word to me."
Reflecting on the incident, she said: "It's kind of a weird sticky feeling that stays with you but I don't feel massively traumatised, but many women would and especially if someone has been assaulted before it would be extremely triggering."
Asked if the issue spread wider than entertainment, she replied: "It is wider, but the thing about fame is 'the talent is the product is the money'." She concluded: "We need to make it more expensive to harbour predators."
Other panelists' responses
Matt Goodwin said: "I think it's important we acknowledge the bravery and the courage of the women who have spoken up and spoken out about these particular cases. I feel conflicted because this is a politics debating panel but I think if we try and score political points on this issue you sort of further disrespect the victims by doing it."
Asked about Nigel Farage's comment that this is how all men banter, Goodwin replied: "No I don't, that's not my view."
Luke Pollard said: "This is a really important moment this week, it's a watershed moment where someone rich and powerful when a system was designed to protect them was held accountable for their actions. I think there is a temptation and risk here where if we view it as a bad apple... that we will be letting down not just the victims of Russell Brand and so many others but people in every single workplace in the country where any form of power can be used to intimidate, to abuse people."
BBC Question Time returns next week.
