As our NoMedia slaver and froth at the heels of Scotland’s most influential politician of the modern era, let’s remember just how ironic their chosen strategy is. Alex Salmond has been judged guilty in advance by many whose own records might not stand up to scrutiny and whose Tory chums are a toxic presence in many workplaces.
On 1 May 2018, the Sun gave us this short list from their Tory Dossier:
- Michael Fallon resigned as Defence Secretary after admitting that he got “handsy” when he inappropriately touched the knee of journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer. Married father-of-two Mr Fallon admitted to The Sun he had touched Julia — but insisted he apologised over the incident 15 years ago and that both considered the matter closed. Julia said she did not feel like she was a victim of a sexual assault, and found the incident nothing more than “mildly amusing”.
- Former Brexit minister Mark Garnier admitted calling his secretary “sugar t*ts” and taking her to buy him sex toys in Soho. Caroline Edmonson said Mr Garnier stood outside the shop and sent her in to buy sex aides for his wife and a member of his constituency staff. He did not deny the claims but told the Mail On Sunday the incidents were taken out of context. He was reported to the Cabinet Office and was later force out of the Cabinet in a reshuffle.
- Former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb sent sexually explicit messages to a 19-year-old woman who applied to work in his Commons office. The 44-year-old husband and devout Christian admitted saying some “pretty outrageous things” after the interview. Mr Crabb had previously been caught sending messages to a woman around half his age describing a sex act he would like to perform on her.
- Ex-Deputy PM Damian Green was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a woman 30 years his junior. Kate Maltby, a Tory activist and academic, said he had made a pass on her in a bar – and flirted with her over texts. He denied the allegations, saying: “It is absolutely and completely untrue that I’ve ever made any sexual advances on Ms Maltby.” He also denied having signed up to extra-marital affair website Ashley Madison. The 61-year-old was also rocked by a fresh scandal after it was police found pornography on his work computer when they raided his Parliamentary office. He was later sacked as May’s right-hand man.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4780221/mps-sex-scandal-allegations-sanctions-names/
A different kind of Dodgy Dossier or Dossier of the Dodgy?
Where are they now? Happily, back in fold of course.
More serious but ignored by the MSM, at the same time as an SNP MSP was exiled, over a humorous and at best, naive, tweet, we read in the Canary, on 21st June 2018:
‘On 18 June, two Conservative politicians were convicted of child sexual abuse. The jury at Swansea Crown Court found former mayor for Pembroke David Boswell guilty of raping a girl under the age of 10. On the same day, former mayor of Godalming Simon Thornton pleaded guilty to more than 20 child sex offenses.’
Finally, for today, how does the Conservative Party in Scotland treat complainants? Well, behind doors, of course. See this in the Times on 2nd October 2018:
‘Ruth Davidson said the way her party deals with sexual harassment claims could change after recent criticism. Miles Briggs, the Lothian MSP, was cleared of sexual harassment at a hearing of the party’s disciplinary committee last week. Rape Crisis criticised the way the complaint was handled and called on the Scottish Conservatives to “urgently change their approach to investigating sexual harassment complaints”. At the time Ms Davidson, the party leader in Scotland, tweeted that she had “confidence in the robustness of the disciplinary process” but has now said that it may look at changing the way such allegations are handled. She told BBC radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “Complaints of sexual harassment are dealt within the same framework of other disciplinary procedures like bullying. It might be we have to separate that.”’
Conservative in every sense?
Talking-up Scotland 
BREAKING NEWS!
https://screenshots.firefox.com/BVhleIRK8uy7KtzL/www.bbc.co.uk
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What was so frustrating about the recent decision regarding the legal action by Mr Salmond about the investigative PROCESS, is the way that the media, politicians in other parties, headstrong activists within the independence movement, too, has immediately taken this as an opportunity to cause embarrassment to the Scottish Government and the First Minister, in particular, relegating the key issue of sexual harassment and the ways in which we, as a society, can deal with this in a rigorous way.
There is no doubt that sexual harassment from what can be termed ‘mild ribbing’ through to serious sexual assault, including rape and murder. It is and has been, principally, perpetrated by men on women and on other men who are gay or on people who are transgender of ‘gender fluid’, but heterosexual men have been victims’ too, and in some cases women have been the perpetrators.
We need to create an atmosphere where people who feel they have been harassed can make a complaint and have the allegation investigated rigorously, while, at the same tome, affording the accused person the right of a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Given the strong emotions that are aroused, this is difficult to do, but, can be done.
The refusal by many campaigners to accept the concept that, as I have indicated earlier, that there is a ‘spectrum of seriousness’ where what has been on the level of ‘banter’ – unpleasant, humiliating and embarrassing as that is to the recipient’ – is not discriminated from touching of private parts and more serious assaults on another person, up to and including rape and murder can become a problem in itself. It can inhibit some perpetrators (mainly men) from accepting responsibility, apologising and making appropriate reparation, because they fear that they will receive condign and disproportionate punishment. Placing names of the register of sex offenders is an example. In such cases some will adopt a denial attitude and, should they seek legal assistance, their lawyer will advise them not to concede anything and to leave the accuser to provide ‘strong’ evidence. There are good resolution techniques which many campaigning organisations and trade unions and personnel services have developed and which are deployed effectively daily. However, these do not get much reporting on the media nor is it mentioned often in parliamentary debate. The media have the rent-a-quote hard-line campaigner on the speed dial who repeat the uncompromising message, with the well-honed cliche. In Parliament the sharp jibe is deployed rather than the considered and constructive point. It is the equivalent of the DUP’s “NO SURRENDER”.
Too often the debate goes round in circles of cliche: ‘the tip of the iceberg’, ‘blaming the victim’, ‘nip it in the bud’, ‘if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about’, etc.
So much of debate is about ego rather than about finding solutions. Fortunately, we actually have solutions and are making progress, but, the sad thing is that these have to be done ‘under the media radar’ and away from the pantomime of Parliamentary debate’
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Yes, I agree on the spectrum of seriousness. Probably lucky i’m out of the workplace now lest I call someone ‘hen’ or lightly touch their arm.
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Put the kettle on
https://timetostartcaring.com/british-politics-a-list-of-mps-convicted-of-sex-offences/
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Thanks. What a list!
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