Women in SNP ‘bullied, harassed, cancelled, manipulated & humiliated’
Councillor alleges abuse within party
WOMEN in the SNP have been ‘bullied, harassed, cancelled, manipulated and humiliated’ by other party members, it was claimed yesterday.
Stirling councillor Maureen Bennison yesterday revealed she had quit the SNP because of ‘toxic abuse’.
Miss Bennison claimed opponents of the party’s gender reform plans in particular have suffered hate-filled attacks.
She also accused Nationalist MP Alyn Smith of being a ‘misogynist’ and said the attacks on women who oppose gender reform are ‘a form of gender-based violence and should never be tolerated, particularly by a political party’.
Miss Bennison, the partner of former Stirling Nationalist MP Steven Paterson, said she was unable to work with Mr Smith because ‘I refuse to be pushed around by either him or his staff’.
The Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Act, which would allow people to self-declare their gender without a medical diagnosis, has sparked major splits in the SNP – with several prominent female MSPs leading a bid to block the plans.
During a Stirling Council virtual meeting yesterday, Miss Bennison, who resigned from the SNP last month, shocked colleagues by launching the attack on senior figures in the party.
She claimed ‘unfounded remarks and comments’ had been made about her in the press by ‘an unnamed Stirling SNP spokesperson’ following her resignation and in an email to party members from Mr Smith. She said: ‘Women within the SNP who have questioned or raised any kind of concern regarding gender recognition reform have been bullied, harassed, cancelled, manipulated and humiliated online by other party members. Mostly men, I should add. And despite numerous complaints the party failed to act.
‘Regardless of what your thoughts are on gender recognition reform, abusing women online is a form of gender-based violence and should never be tolerated, particularly by a political party.’
She claimed Stirling MP Mr Smith had made ‘derogatory comments’ about her in the email to party members which were ‘completely unfounded’.
‘These retrospective allegations only reinforce my reasons for resigning from the party in the first place,’ she said.
‘The email also made disparaging comments about my partner who, for the record, had nothing to do with my decision and there was no need for our parachuted-in MP to drag my partner’s name through the mud again.
‘I have felt under increasing pressure to work with our MP, but I cannot work with a man who, in my opinion, is a misogynist and I refuse to be pushed around by either him or his staff.’
Mr Smith’s partner, SNP activist Jordon Henderson, has campaigned for gender reform – and faced accusations from within the SNP that he has ‘bullied and abused’ party members. He has previously said some of his tweets made him ‘cringe’ but insisted that ‘I’ve been vocal in defending party policy on trans rights’.
Miss Bennison’s partner Mr Paterson was defeated by Tory Stephen Kerr in the 2017 general election. He blamed ‘dirty tricks’ after he failed to become a vetted party candidate for December’s general election. Asked about Miss Bennison’s comments last night, Mr Smith said: ‘Clearing out dead wood is a sensitive process. This bitter, hurtful and absurd allegation is entirely untrue.’
In April it was announced that reforms to the Gender Recognition Act had been halted by the Scottish Government as priority was given to tackling the coronavirus crisis.
The Scottish Government said the situation with the pandemic ‘regrettably’ meant work on many Bills had to be stopped, including work on a tourist tax and Holyrood’s own Brexit legislation.