A senior MP has launched an investigation into a leaked recording which shows Westminster leader Ian Blackford backing a sex pest colleague.
In an email to SNP MPs, Chief Whip Owen Thompson claimed whoever made the audio relating to Patrick Grady has legal questions to answer.
Grady’s victim, who was 19 at the time of the sexual misconduct, said: “It is disappointing to see that the SNP would rather take strong action against the leaker than the perpetrator."
Westminster authorities last week ruled that Grady, the SNP MP for Glasgow North, had touched and stroked his victim’s hair, back and neck in a London pub in 2016.
Grady apologised and was suspended from the Commons for 48 hours, after which he received a similar punishment from the party group at Westminster.
The victim later told the Record that only one of 45 SNP MPs had been in touch with after him after the sexual misconduct ruling.
The Daily Mail then obtained a recording of an SNP group meeting at which MPs discussed the Grady case.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford can be heard saying on the audio: “He’s [Grady] going to face a number of challenges over the short term and so he should have our absolute full support.
“I for one very much look forward to welcoming Patrick back into the group next week. I am sure that everybody here will agree.”
Despite the outcry over the SNP’s handling of the Grady scandal, Thompson has put the focus on the leaker.
In an email to MPs on Friday evening, first obtained by the Times, he wrote: “It is with great sadness that I have to report that a recording of our Group meeting on Tuesday 14th June has been passed to the Mail Online, and is now being used to attack the party.
“It is not the first time leaks from the group have found their way into the press, however this is the first time this has come in the form of a recording of our meeting. Group meetings are a mandatory forum under our standing orders and members should rightly be able to expect to be able to voice their opinions in a confidential forum."
He added: “Any leak is bad, but recording colleagues without their knowledge or consent is beyond the pale. There are also serious questions to be answered on the legality of sharing a recording without consent under the terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
“I have spoken with Ian and indicated I will raised [sic] this matter with Parliamentary security for further advice, but I will also be looking to meet with all group members in attendance at the meeting last week, in person, on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. This behaviour is entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative chairman, said Thompson’s email “confirms that the SNP have seriously warped priorities when it comes to handling severe misconduct”.
He added: “Threatening legal action and interrogating their own MPs in this way is a new low even for the nationalists. This is not about ‘attacking the party’ and quoting standing orders, it is about responsibility to the vulnerable victim.”
A spokesperson for the SNP Westminster parliamentary group said:
“Staff and MPs have been offered pastoral support throughout this process. The group has a duty to ensure the personal welfare of all involved, including the impact on mental health and well-being.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
