A senior UK Conservative party politician who was arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault says the allegations are “completely false”.

Nigel Evans said that he would not stand down from his role as Deputy House of Commons Speaker Nigel Evans as he spoke with reporters outside his house in the north of England, where police charge the crimes took place.  He said that until a day earlier, he regarded the two men making the allegations as friends.

“The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialize with one as recently as last week,” he said, thanking colleagues and friends who echoed his own “sense of incredulity” over the allegations.

Lancashire police has released no further details of the complainants.