To Scotland, where the Nats are facing accusations of not dealing with sex offender complaints properly. Cameron Downing, former SNP equalities officer, was last month jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually assaulting six young adults and physically assaulting two women. Between 2016 and 2021, the ex-equalities officer was found to have attacked seven people and has been convicted of 10 charges – including sexual assault and domestic abuse. He resigned from the equalities post after his tweets from 2022 about how he wanted to ‘beat the f*** out of some terfs and transphobes’ emerged – but only had his SNP membership formally removed in January 2023.
And it has now been alleged that one of Downing’s victims raised concerns with the party about his behaviour in 2022 – but no action was taken. The woman, who alleges she was attacked by the ex-equalities officer, told the Sunday Mail she emailed Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, to make her complaint, reportedly writing:
I am contacting you in reference to an equalities officer of the London branch. Cameron is involved in a High Court case that involves more than five individuals that he has sexually harassed or assaulted. The case has been ongoing for over a year. It is a disservice to both his victims and the LGBTQ+ community to allow him to continue his position. Cameron’s actions do not make him a suitable individual to represent anyone, especially a minority group that already faces enough criticism and hardship.
Strong stuff. The victim said that she received a reply from the SNP’s compliance officer Ian McCann, asking ‘if – to your knowledge – any of the circumstances around the allegations involved SNP events or SNP members?’ Speaking to the Sunday Mail, the woman said of the response: ‘It seemed like they were more interested in finding out: “Was it SNP adjacent? Did it happen in the SNP?” There didn’t appear to be any concern about me or potentially others he may have harmed.’ Crikey…
Prominent figures in the SNP have slammed the party over Downing’s case, with ex-MP Joanna Cherry taking to Twitter at the weekend to write: ‘A young woman who was subjected to a horrific sexual assault by an SNP office bearer tells how her complaints to the party were ignored. In March 2020 my calls for an independent inquiry into the party’s complaints system were also ignored. Action is required.’ Meanwhile veteran MSP Fergus Ewing has called for an internal party probe into the matter, and said that the party’s senior management should be removed if the SNP is to have ‘any prospect of recovery’. He’s certainly pulling no punches…
For its part, a party spokesperson told Mr S:
The SNP take all complaints seriously and, following investigation, take action when appropriate. No one in the SNP was aware of legal action against Mr Downing until Dec 2022 – at which stage he was immediately suspended from the party. The fact that he pushed himself into a voluntary role with his local branch when he knew he was facing these charges speaks volumes of what we now know to be his character.
The latest allegations follow previous complaints about the handling of the Jordan Linden case – in which a former SNP council leader quit his position in July 2023 after accusations emerged that he had groped and assaulted a teenager at a Dundee Pride afterparty. Linden has since appeared in court accused of 17 charges, including six of sexual assault. The party hierarchy was accused of closing ranks after allegations were first made to ‘support Jordan’, while one SNP insider told the Sunday Mail in March 2023 that ‘the party does not have a functioning complaints process’. Goodness. Whenever will things change?
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