'It took me a long time to admit, even to myself' - Cannock Chase MP tells colleagues he was raped as he calls for end to stigma around victims

Labour’s Josh Newbury told a debate on International Men’s Day that he had been on a night out in an unfamiliar city, but woke up in his hotel room with another man after blacking out while drunk.

The MP for Cannock Chase said he had not reported the attack to police, and had felt guilty afterwards. He wanted to stop the silence and “shame” around those who have been assaulted.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Newbury said: “Around 10 years ago, I went on a night out in an unfamiliar city with a group of friends. I was very conscious not to overdo it, because if I got separated from the group I wanted to be able to find my way back to the hotel.

“I remember going to a few bars, having a good time, but then it’s a complete blank. Which is something that I’ve never experienced before or since. The next morning, I woke up with the worst headache I’ve ever had.

“The man I was sharing a hotel room with commented that he had a great night, but that I’d overdone it a bit and needed to be looked after.

“That didn’t seem to tally with me being determined to pace myself, but I thought maybe I’d drunk too much and I just wanted to get home and sleep it off.

“What followed in the days after was constant text messages from this man, initially just asking if I was OK, but then repeatedly asking what I remembered and commenting that I was a ‘great shag’.

“Now that made me freeze, because I had no recollection of getting back to the hotel, let alone anything else, and he’d repeatedly told me how out of it I’d been, so how could I have ever consented?”

Mr Newbury said: “It took me a few weeks to piece together my memories, the blanks, the text messages, this man’s insistent tone. Obviously, I cut myself off from contact but it took me a long time to admit, even to myself, that I was a victim of rape.

“I never felt able to report this and face the likely conclusion that months on from that night, there wasn’t the tangible evidence to ever bring a charge, and I will probably always carry a bit of guilt around that.

“I found myself processing all of this with thoughts like, ‘I count myself lucky that I was unconscious when it happened’. But I want to say clearly today, that no victim should ever feel that they have to put themselves in a hierarchy or feel any shame.

“It is the people who do this to another person who should feel shame, and I hope that we can foster an atmosphere where men have the courage to speak out about this, and seek justice, even if it is a hard road.”

Fellow Labour MPs Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) and Jim Dickson (Dartford) could be seen offering him support afterwards.

Speaking later in the debate, Mr Newbury’s party colleagues Natalie Fleet (Bolsover) and Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) paid tribute to him.

Mr Strathern said: “Can I just start by saying an incredible thank you to the honourable member, my friend, for Cannock Chase, for… the bravery I think he showed today, as well as the leadership he’s shown on so many of the issues that he spoke to in his speech, (which) will serve men right across the country far better in the future than maybe politics has managed to in the past.

“It’s a day after International Men’s Day, but I could not think of a better model for a modern strong man than the vision of himself he set out today and being so brave to share that deeply personal experience.”

The debate took place on the 10th anniversary of International Men’s Day, and coincided with the Movember charity fundraising month which raises money for Prostate Cancer UK.

Issues raised by MPs included a push for prostate cancer screening, a focus on under-achievement by working-class boys in school, and a campaign to get better paternity leave for men.

Mr Newbury paid tribute to the group Dad Shift.

He said: “Their campaign for better paternity leave, backed by undeniable evidence, is grounded in lived experience.”