Cops swoop on Nigel Evans MP
Top Tory ... Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans with Prime Minister David Cameron
GAY Deputy Commons Speaker Nigel Evans was arrested yesterday on suspicion of sex attacks on two men aged in their 20s.
Tory MP Mr Evans, 55, a gay rights campaigner, was questioned for 12 hours after officers swooped on his rural constituency home in Pendleton, Lancs.
Officers are focusing on allegations that he raped one man and sexually assaulted another between July 2009 and this March.
Speaking from his Lancashire home this morning, he branded the allegations “completely false” and revealed they had been made by two people he had "regarded as friends".
Mr Evans said: “Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police concerning two complaints, one of which dates back four years, made by two people who are well known to each other and until yesterday, I regarded as friends.
“The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialise with one as recently as last week.
Statement ... Nigel Evans speaking outside his house this morning
Cottage ... weekend home where Conservative MP was arrested
“I appreciate the way the police have handled this in such a sensitive manner and I would like to thank my colleagues, friends and members of the public who have expressed their support and, like me, a sense of incredulity at these events. Thank you very much.”
His solicitor Adrian Yalland said Mr Evans is not intending to stand down, either as deputy speaker or as an MP.
Mr Evans was detained yesterday morning at the cottage where he spends most weekends.
He was taken to a nearby police station while forensic teams searched his property. They also searched a white Saab convertible parked outside.
At 10.30pm last night he was released on bail until June 19 and whisked away in a car by a pal.
MP ... Mr Evans does not intend to stand down, either as deputy speaker or as an MP, his lawyer says
Bailed ... Nigel Evans is driven away after his release last night
One neighbour in the picturesque village said: “How shocking — I can’t believe it. He always seems so pleasant.”
News of his arrest stunned Westminster, where the MP for Ribble Valley holds one of the most senior positions in Parliament.
PM David Cameron and Commons Speaker John Bercow were informed of the arrest.
Mr Bercow said: “It has been a total shock. Nigel is a popular and well-liked character. No one can quite believe what’s happened."
Foreign Secretary William Hague said today that Mr Evans is “a popular and well-respected member of Parliament and deputy speaker”.
He added that he would not comment further because the case is subject to legal proceedings.
Campaigner ... Evans with Labour leader Ed Miliband
As Mr Bercow’s £102,000-a-year deputy, Welshman Mr Evans is in charge of keeping MPs in order in the chamber. He has been tipped in the past as a successor to the post of Speaker.
It is understood the swoop came after two men made complaints and gave statements to police last week.
A source said: “It came as a bolt from the blue when police turned up at his door.”
After the MP’s arrest he was quizzed by cops specialising in investigating sexual offences.
It was not clear if the police inquiry also involved a search of Mr Evans’ Commons offices and a weekday home he keeps in East London.
The MP, son of a newsagent, has held his safe seat for 21 years.
Colourful ... Evans with circus dancers at the Commons
He was once famously pictured with two scantily-clad circus dancer girls inside Parliament.
And on another occasion he caused a security stir by trying to get cops to let a rickshaw driver take him into the building.
He came out to end 'lie'
By ADAM FAULKNER
NIGEL Evans came out as gay in a 2010 interview — saying he was fed up living a lie.
The MP revealed political enemies had threatened blackmail over his sexuality.
But he was also inspired to go public after a heart-to-heart with actress pal Vicky Entwistle — ex-Corrie loudmouth Janice Battersby.
Mr Evans — who she invited to a bash marking 50 years of the show — revealed: “Vicky and I went for a drink after the party and she said, ‘You’re gay, aren’t you?’ It’s a subject I avoid usually but Vicky’s very natural and I told her I was.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m telling people I’m gay — it’s time I did something about it and told everyone’.”
He has since been an active gay rights campaigner. He addressed last year’s Gay Pride rally in London wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan: “I am Deputy Speaker of the Commons.”
The MP declared later: “I marched for the millions of gay people in parts of the world where they live in fear with no prospect of marching freely themselves and face public humiliation and private despair.
“I marched for anyone who asks the question, ‘Why does he march?’ And finally, I needed to march for me.”
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