LONDON (AP) 鈥 A prominent lawmaker within Britain's governing Conservative Party revealed Thursday that he has been arrested in connection with a rape allegation.
Crispin Blunt, 63, said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was arrested Wednesday and that he has twice been interviewed by police in connection with what he termed 鈥渢his incident.鈥
Blunt, who has been a lawmaker since 1997 and a former minister, said he was first interviewed three weeks ago when he 鈥渋nitially reported鈥 his concern over an unnamed 鈥渆xtortion.鈥
The second time, he said, was 鈥渆arlier this morning under caution following arrest.鈥
He added that the arrest was 鈥渦nnecessary鈥 and that he remains 鈥渞eady to cooperate fully with the investigation that I am confident will end without charge.鈥
鈥淚 do not intend to say anything further on this matter until the police have completed their inquiries," he added.
Blunt鈥檚 statement came soon after Surrey Police said they had arrested a man Wednesday morning in the town of Horley, which is about 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) south of London, on suspicion of rape and the possession of controlled substances.
A spokesperson for the police said the individual 鈥渉as been released on conditional police bail pending further inquiries.鈥
After Blunt identified himself, the Conservative Party suspended him pending the outcome of the police investigation, meaning he is now an independent. Blunt has previously announced that he won't be standing again at the next U.K.-wide election, which has to take place by January 2025.
Blunt is the latest in a string of sitting lawmakers from across political parties to be arrested on allegations of sexual offenses. On Wednesday, another Conservative lawmaker was suspended from Parliament for six weeks after an investigation found he had bullied and been sexually inappropriate around a former staffer. The lawmaker, Peter Bone, has denied any wrongdoing.
