SNP’s chief whip stands down over sleaze probe
Grady accused of sexual harassment by party worker Nationalists ‘will do anything to stop scrutiny’ say Tories
A NATIONALIST MP has stepped down from a key party role after the SNP launched an investigation into harassment allegations against him.
Patrick Grady will no longer serve as the party’s chief whip at Westminster while the probe into his conduct is carried out.
However, a second MP whose behaviour in a separate alleged incident is also being investigated will continue to work.
Concerns were raised yesterday that the SNP had tried to brush the complaint under the carpet and only launched an investigation when details were made public.
Yesterday, the party worker who made the allegations against the two MPs said the SNP had initially refused to probe his complaints when he made them more than five weeks ago.
There was also no investigation when he confirmed details about the incident involving Mr Grady four years ago, after concerns had been raised with the party by a colleague.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: ‘The allegations against the chief whip of the Westminster group of the SNP now look like they will be investigated but it seems like there was an attempt to brush it under the carpet when they were first raised several years ago.
‘We see the situation with Derek Mackay resigning as finance secretary but continuing as an MSP, and we still haven’t heard of the outcome of the internal inquiry into his conduct by the
‘Attempt to brush this under the carpet’
SNP more than a year later. You’ve got Margaret Ferrier, who has been suspended from the parliamentary party but remains a member of the SNP. These are just a few of the examples.
‘If you build those into the secrecy the SNP has shrouded [over] the [Holyrood] inquiry into the handling of harassment complaints, it shows a Government that has been in power too long and has not delivered for Scotland.
‘People are beginning to realise this is a party riven with sleaze that is willing to do anything to stop proper scrutiny into their conduct.’
Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: ‘The SNP only seems to act on serious allegations when the Press publish them. That is simply not good enough.’
The allegations, initially about two unnamed MPs, became public earlier this week when they were published by a tabloid newspaper.
Yesterday, the Mail revealed that the staff member who made the claims had made a new, direct plea to senior SNP figures to investigate.
He sent a dossier of emails about his allegations dating back to the start of last month to Ian McCann, the SNP’s compliance officer, and Sue Ruddick, its chief operating officer.
He told them: ‘I would like to confirm that this email chain is my complaint. Please confirm if this will be investigated by the party.’
He has said that, after he initially raised concerns about Mr Grady’s conduct, he was called into a room with him, without prior notice, by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford – a move he described as an ‘ambush’.
Following the staff member’s email on Tuesday, the SNP confirmed it had now received a ‘formal complaint’ and was following ‘due process’. The party would not comment further.
It was subsequently confirmed that Mr Grady
had stepped aside as chief whip while the party investigates.
However, the SNP worker – who is based in the House of Commons – yesterday said he made the complaint about the two MPs on February 1 and made a complaint about the second MP a year ago.
He confirmed a complaint about Mr Grady four years ago.
He said: ‘The party would rather not talk about things and hope they go away. When issues are raised they are completely mishandled. Ultimately, the buck stops with Blackford. So many questions need answered to his involvement in this and how much he knew.
‘It’s unfair that the SNP issued a statement saying the story of the meeting was inaccurate before the investigation has taken place.’
The worker claims Mr Grady touched him inappropriately in 2016, when they were in the Water Poet pub in London. The worker was only 19 at the time. He claims Mr Grady put his fingers down the back of his collar, ‘touching me inappropriately there’, and had grabbed his hair.
He did not raise a complaint at first but a third party flagged it up to SNP leaders. Mr Blackford called him into his office, where Mr Grady was on the couch crying.
He said the MP apologised and he had responded that it was OK, because ‘I wasn’t going to tear this guy down in front of me’. He added: ‘I wouldn’t view this as mediation. I would view it as an ambush.’
In his complaint sent at the beginning of last month – which was also copied to Nicola Sturgeon and Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster and business convener – the staff member said: ‘I am upset at the handling of this over the years and subsequent sexual harassment stories within the party.’
The email sent to on Tuesday to Miss Ruddick and Mr McCann included a copy of his original complaint from February 1, 2021.
In it, he said: ‘There should be absolutely no situation where the leader/employer brings the victim into a room with the harasser without any prior notice.
‘I wish for all this to be reported and investigated. If this continues to not be dealt with I will have no choice but to go public with this.’
Yesterday, the Herald newspaper reported that separate concerns were raised regarding Mr Grady’s conduct in letters to the then Commons Speaker, John Bercow, in December 2017 and early 2018.
The first letter alleged a member of staff was ‘groped sexually’ by Mr Grady at a Christmas party in
London but ‘staff are scared to come forward because he is protected by the party’.
The Speaker’s Office passed the letters to the SNP’s compliance unit, in line with the party’s harassment policy.
Scottish Tory MSP for Glasgow Annie Wells said: ‘The SNP’s chief whip faces serious allegations.
‘But Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell and other senior figures, including former Westminster leader Angus Robertson, also have serious questions to answer.
‘When a newspaper reported allegations about Mr Grady on Monday, he was not named and remained in post as chief whip.
‘It took subsequent press reports naming Mr Grady before he stood down. What did Sturgeon and her
‘Touching me inappropriately’ ‘Staff scared to come forward’
husband know? Any suggestion of ignorance is not credible. I feel sorry for any complainer now being asked to have faith in the SNP doing the right thing.
‘Powerful employees in any organisation cannot abuse their status to exploit colleagues.’
It is understood Mr Grady stood aside amid the probe due to the nature of his role as chief whip.
According to the complainant, the SNP had initially encouraged him to go through the Westminster harassment complaints process.
Last night, an SNP spokesman declined to make further comment and referred to the party’s statement from Tuesday, which said: ‘The SNP has received a formal complaint. That now allows due process to take place and we will not be commenting further while an investigation is under way.’
Mr Grady did not respond to a request for comment.