A parliamentary researcher alerted bar staff and security to her drink being tampered with.
LONDON — Police are investigating after a woman reported having her drink spiked in one of the bars on the U.K.’s parliamentary estate, POLITICO has learned.
The alleged incident took place in Stranger’s Bar in the Palace of Westminster in early January, the first week of MPs’ return to parliament after the Christmas recess.
The woman, a parliamentary researcher, alerted bar staff and parliamentary security to her drink being tampered with.
A U.K. Parliament spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident which took place on the parliamentary estate in early January, which was reported to parliamentary security and is now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service.”
Parliamentary officials stressed that they are treating the allegation extremely seriously. The Met Police, which covers the U.K. capital, declined to comment.
The alleged attack on a parliamentary worker is likely to renew debate over the safety of Westminster’s bars, which have been repeatedly criticized over an unhealthy drinking culture.
A group of Labour MPs recently called for restrictions on the sale of alcohol on the parliamentary estate as part of a drive to modernize the working culture of the House of Commons.
The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme — the U.K. parliament’s official complaints system — has described the “culture of drinking in Westminster” as a “frequent factor” in conduct-breaching incidents in the parliamentary bars.
The government has also promised to strengthen the police response to reports of spiking in a wider crackdown on violence against women and girls in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper late last year condemned spiking as “a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims.”
