Sturgeon harassment warning to members

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday ordered SNP parliamentarians ‘in positions of power’ to examine their behaviour towards women after it emerged the party is investigating two allegations of sexual harassment.

The First Minister has written to Nationalist MPs, MSPs, MEPs and their staff urging victims to come forward and warning that sexually inappropriate behaviour ‘will not be tolerated’.

She told parliamentarians to ‘read what women in particular have been saying’ about their experiences and ‘consider whether any of those instances would ever apply to your past or current behaviour’.

Miss Sturgeon has also provided the contact details of a solicitor female staff members can contact on a confidential basis if they wish to make allegations against an SNP politician. Her intervention came just 24 hours after her party was forced to reveal it had launched two investigations into inappropriate behaviour following revelations that women had been subjected to a ‘catalogue’ of sexual harassment incidents at Holyrood.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney also addressed allegations in the Scottish parliament’s chamber where he told all men they must ‘examine their own behaviour’ if harassment is to end. This came as the five political parties met with Holyrood chiefs yesterday to discuss how to wipe out harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

As well as a confidential hotline for reporting cases, all people working at the parliament will be invited to complete an anonymous survey to gauge the scale of Holyrood’s sexual harassment problem.

In her email to SNP parliamentarians and staff, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘To those of you who may have been on the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour, I want you to know you can feel confident coming forward.’