Blackford regrets handling of sexual misconduct case

THE SNP’S Westminster leader has apologised for the handling of a complaint against an MP found guilty of sexual misconduct, amid mounting pressure on him to resign.

Ian Blackford said he regretted that Patrick Grady’s victim did not feel he had been supported by the party, and an external review has been ordered of the help available to staff.

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP also said he was sorry that a recording of him urging other MPS to rally around Mr Grady had been leaked, saying it had “caused distress to the complainant amongst others”. However, he did not explicitly express contrition for backing Mr Grady, the Glasgow North MP, despite the widespread criticism his comments have received.

His intervention – his first public comments since the leak – came the day after another SNP MP piled more pressure on Mr Blackford by apologising for joining him in rallying support for Mr Grady. Amy Callaghan, the party’s pensions spokesman, said her intervention had been “insensitive, poorly worded and misplaced” and she apologised to “survivors” of harassment for the “hurt and disappointment” she had caused.

Commons investigators found Mr Grady “made an unwanted sexual advance” in 2016 to the victim, who was then aged 19. The MP was suspended from Parliament for two days.

However, the SNP’S refusal to impose a more stringent punishment was criticised after Mr Blackford

‘More than that, however, staff have a right to feel fully supported when a complaint is made’

wrote to SNP staff last year promising a “zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour”.

Mr Blackford issued a statement yesterday evening. He said it was “completely unacceptable” that the victim was subjected to “inappropriate behaviour”. “More than that, however, staff have a right to feel fully supported when a complaint is made. I regret that the complainant does not feel that this is the case,” he said.