Rishi Sunak has said allegations that a Tory MP committed a series of rapes are “very serious”, but insisted that the Conservative Party’s complaints procedures are “robust”.

The Prime Minister urged anyone with “information or evidence about any criminal acts” to contact the police. 

It comes after it was reported that Sir Jake Berry, the former Tory Party chairman, told police that an internal “failure” to act on allegations of rape allowed an unnamed MP to “continue to offend”.

Sir Jake wrote to police informing them that he had found out about several suspected assaults after discovering the Conservative Party had covered the treatment costs for one alleged victim at a private hospital, according to the Mail on Sunday. 

Speaking on a visit to Norfolk, the Prime Minister said: “These are very serious, anonymous allegations.

“It may be that they allude to something that is already the subject of a live police investigation, so I hope you understand it wouldn’t be right for me to comment on that further specifically.

“More broadly the Conservative Party has robust independent complaint procedures in place, but I would say to anybody who has information or evidence about any criminal acts to of course talk to police, that’s the right course of action.”

Sir Jake’s letter suggested that an unnamed MP had assaulted as many as five people, with some allegations including claims of rape. 

“We also believe there are up to five victims of X and that the failure of others to act has enabled X to continue to offend and to victimise women,” his letter said, according to the Mail on Sunday.

On Monday, Claire Couninho, the Energy Secretary, said she did not think it was right for “politicians to provide a running commentary” on such serious claims, as she declined to comment on the “specifics of the case”. 

Speaking on Times Radio, she said: “What I can say is that anyone that’s been through that kind of sexual assault, and I appreciate that the stories that were in the press, they’re anonymous, the people are unnamed, but they’re still horrific stories. 

“But I would urge them to go to the police so they can be properly looked into.”

The Labour Party has called for an investigation to be conducted into the Conservative Party, saying that a failure to do so would be a “failure of leadership and a dereliction of duty”. 

Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, insisted on Sky News that the Tory Party had “zero tolerance for sexual misconduct”.