Tory MP Rob Roberts suspended in the House of Commons for 6 weeks – but Jacob Rees-Mogg wants him to quit

Welsh MP Rob Roberts has been suspended in the Commons for 6 weeks after he was found to breach sexual misconduct rules.

Further pressure was piled around the MP for Delyn when Commons leader Jabcob Rees-Mogg suggested it would be "honourable" for him to face down.

Rees-Mogg made the remark because he confirmed the federal government looks at dealing with a loophole which prevents constituents of Mr Roberts (Delyn) from forcing a by-election.

MPs later approved a motion to suspend Mr Roberts in the Commons for 6 weeks after he allegedly made repeated unwanted advances to a employee. He's also lost the Tory whip.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believed Mr Roberts had received "condign" – which means appropriate – punishment.

The way recall laws are drawn up means Mr Roberts cannot face the possibilities of losing his seat.

The sanction was proposed through the panel placed in 2021 to deal with cases raised underneath the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.

But only the Recall of Parliament Act, passed in 2021, allows the prospect of the by-election for sanctions imposed around the recommendation from the Commons Committee on Standards.

Mr Rees-Mogg told MPs: "Following a case of this severity that would be honourable for any member to stand down after the withdrawal from the whip, we need to look at whether the process is striking the right balance between your defendants, protecting the confidentiality of the complainants as well as in ensuring consistent outcomes across different types of conduct case.

"I can therefore confirm towards the House which i have asked the chairman of the independent expert panel for his thoughts about whether changes should be made to the present process to enable recall to be triggered.

"In my view, any changes in this regard ought to be produced in probably the most straightforward way possible and my preference would therefore be for any non-legislative solution."

Mr Rees-Mogg said it is ultimately for the House of Commons to make a decision.

For Labour, shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire said she had written to Mr Rees-Mogg to provide to work with him to "close the loophole urgently and seek solutions".

She said: "I'd prefer to use him to visit further and quicker and that i agree that there are non-legislative solutions because with what other job could someone who has completed sexual misconduct not face losing that job?"

She added: "There are workable methods to what would be a stain on us all if the public sees somebody who has completed sexual misconduct keep their job in this place."

Ms Debbonaire said that "ideally the member would do the honourable thing and resign forthwith", adding: "Process should not be any shield for unacceptable behaviour, if the member does not resign, he ought to be susceptible to recall and when he isn't, we risk appearing as if this House does not take sexual misconduct seriously which of course we do."

Mr Rees-Mogg, in the reply, said: "It's frankly ridiculous that we have a greater sanction for somebody who utilizes a few envelopes incorrectly than for somebody who is involved in sexual misconduct."

Delyn MP Rob Roberts faced allegations over WhatsApp messages delivered to a young female intern and also his behaviour towards men Parliament worker.

The BBC reported first the woman reportedly told Mr Roberts that they was struggling with her mental health but he persisted saying: “I was just considering fun times – Maybe if you considered them too it might assist you to.”

Later within the exchange the MP told the feminine intern he "might be gay but I enjoy… fun times".

Mr Roberts was in warm water previously after he invited a male person in parliamentary staff to dinner, something he later acknowledged was inappropriate.