Crispin Blunt’s statement on a colleague convicted of sexually assaulting a minor has angered a lot of MPs (including Joanna Cherry).

The Tory MP Crispin Blunt is facing calls to quit as chair of a Parliamentary Group on LGBT+ rights after he defended a colleague found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Mr Blunt, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global LGBT+ Rights, made a public intervention on Monday after Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan was found guilty of sexual assault.

Khan, who has been expelled from the Conservative Party, continues to deny wrongdoing and does not intend to stand down as an MP but is likely to face removal from office after he is sentenced.

In his statement, Mr Blunt said he was “appalled and distraught at the dreadful miscarriage of justice that has befallen my friend and colleague Imran Ahmad Khan.”

Any appallment or distraughtitude for the victim? No?

The Conservative Party rejected Mr Blunt’s intervention. A spokesperson said: “A jury of Mr Khan’s peers has found him guilty of a criminal offence. We completely reject any allegations of impropriety against our independent judiciary, the jury or Mr Khan’s victim.”

The statement also spurred a stream of resignations from other LGBT+ MPs who are members of the APPG.

The SNP’s Stewart McDonald wrote: “I have resigned as a vice-chair of the @APPGLGBT following Crispin Blunt’s statement.

“This was the first APPG I joined as an MP and it meant a lot to me. Parliament needs a respected and robust LGBT group and Crispin can no longer provide that leadership. He should stand down.”

Remember, Crispin is the guy who bullied and then reported Lisa Townsend for saying men don’t belong in women’s prisons.