NICOLA Sturgeon has said the resignation of Neil Parish should be a moment for society to say “enough is enough” when it comes to misogyny.
The Tiverton and Honiton admitted to watching porn in the House of Commons, which prompted widespread calls for him to give up his role.
The Tory MP initially vowed to continue his duties but his local Conservative association later said he would quit.
The First Minister reacted to news of the MP’s resignation as she campaigned in Burntisland, Fife, on Saturday.
She told the PA news agency: “I don’t think there could really be any other outcome to what has come to light about this particular MP over the last few days.
“Watching porn on a mobile phone in the House of Commons when you’re there representing constituents is just unacceptable.”
She said sexism and misogyny were a “societal problem” which now needed to change.
The First Minister said: “So this is a moment I think to really say ‘enough is enough’. Not all men are misogynists, but all women do experience misogyny.
“And misogyny is by and large about male behaviour. So men have to change, and I hope this is a moment where they really think about that carefully and seriously.”
Parish, looking visibly emotional, told the BBC he was looking at tractors on the internet and went to a website with a “very similar name” adding: “I watched it for a bit, which I shouldn’t have done.”
In the interview with BBC Politics South West, he said he first thought he would explain to the standards committee what had happened, but could see the “furore and the damage I was causing my family and my constituency” and decided to act.
Parish went on to say he had then viewed pornography for a second time in the chamber.
He said: “My biggest crime is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”
That was “deliberate”, Parish acknowledged, saying that this happened while he was sitting waiting to vote “on the side of the chamber”.
Asked why he had done so, Parish said it was “a moment of madness, and also, totally wrong”.
