Men are NOT the enemy

At tHE end of another week of tumult at Pestminster, scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the culture has to change and the stables have to be cleared out.

I agree. Wellies and muck shovels at the ready. But I also think that accusations of misconduct have to amount to something more than a clammy hand almost brushing against a trembling knee, or a clumsy text (sent by the deputy prime minister Damian Green to a female journalist) that could be misinterpreted.

Women are better than this. For years, feminists fought on our behalf so that we had a place at the table, a foothold in the rough and tumble of public life.

the fight against discrimination and sexism gave us the chance to enjoy the freedoms we have today. Now I worry that those freedoms are being charred in a crazed witch hunt where men are always the enemy, whatever they do or do not do.

I am not a victim waiting to happen, and I don’t respect any woman who is.

the case of Bex Bailey is much more serious, but equally troubling. the 25-year-old activist says that she was raped by a senior Labour Party official six years ago. she goes on to say that she was told by another party official not to report the attack because it could damage her political career.

I admire her for speaking out. But equally — and please, this is not a criticism of her or victim blaming — why would she even want to belong to a political party that demanded something so despicable, so loathsome and so retrogressive of her?