To Scotland, where outrage is spreading after news that a former sex pest politician has landed a top charity job. It transpires that disgraced ex-SNP MP Patrick Grady has been appointed to a senior role at a Scottish government-funded charity – while his victim claims Grady’s actions ‘ended’ his career. Good heavens…
Mr S would remind readers that in 2022, the UK parliament’s standards watchdog ruled that Grady had made an ‘unwanted sexual advance’ to an SNP staffer while ‘under the influence of alcohol’ at a pub six years earlier, where he was found to have stroked the young man’s neck, hair and back. Now the SNP’s former chief whip has been made the policy and communications chief at Scotland’s International Development Alliance (SIDA) where, to much indignation, his website profile fails to mention his history of misconduct.
Grady’s victim has now hit out at the appointment, telling the Sunday Post that the ex-MP’s actions had caused ‘real harm to real people’. He went on:
I have worked tirelessly to rebuild my life after his actions destroyed my mental health and ended my career while he was able to continue his. I’m surprised to her an organisation which claims to fight injustice and strive for a fairer world appears to have overlooked the significance of Grady’s sexual harassment towards me.
Employing someone with a documented history of inappropriate behaviour towards teenage colleagues sends a troubling message about how seriously they take safeguarding and accountability.
And Russell Findlay’s Scottish Tories are rather unimpressed by the revelation too, with Conservative MSP Annie Wells quick to blast the move. Speaking to the Scottish Daily Mail, Wells noted:
Given that this organisation is funded by taxpayer’s money, many will wonder if this disgraced former MP is the most appropriate person for such a role.
Good heavens. Will SIDA reconsider its choice? Watch this space…
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