SNP threatens own MPs with criminal action over leaked recording

The SNP has threatened its own MPs with criminal action after a leaked recording of Ian Blackford defending a colleague who committed sexual misconduct led to calls for him to be sacked.

Critics claimed that the launch of a heavy-handed hunt for the leaker showed the party cared more about protecting powerful senior figures than the teenage victim of Patrick Grady, the Glasgow North MP who was found to have inappropriately propositioned a 19-year-old in a London pub.

A recording of a Westminster group meeting was disclosed to the media over the weekend, in which Mr Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, was heard urging MPs to offer their “absolute full support” to Mr Grady, who was last week suspended from the Commons for two days over the 2016 incident.

Owen Thompson, the party’s chief whip, warned all SNP MPs in an email that parliamentary security had been alerted to the breach and that there were “serious questions to be answered on the legality of sharing a recording without consent”, citing the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

He has also summoned every MP who was at the meeting to meet with him in person as part of his search for the leaker.

Sharing the recording was “beyond the pale” and amounted to behaviour that was “unacceptable and will not be tolerated”, according to Mr Thompson’s email, which was then leaked to The Times.

The party has rallied around Mr Grady, a former national secretary of the SNP, despite previously claiming it would have “zero tolerance” of “unacceptable behaviour” by its politicians.

During the incident, Mr Grady was found to have touched and stroked the male complainant’s neck, hair and back while under the influence of alcohol.

The complainant then told how he had felt “ambushed” by Mr Blackford when he called him to a meeting at which Mr Grady apologised.

Craig Hoy, the chairman of the Scottish Tories, said that the email sent out by Mr Thompson showed the Nationalists had “seriously warped priorities when it comes to handling severe misconduct”.

He added: “More effort appears to have gone into catching a mole than mending the hurt caused by Patrick Grady. And rather than protecting a vulnerable staffer, they are protecting their own necks and watching their backs.

“But threatening legal action and interrogating their own MPs in this way is a new low even for the Nationalists.”

He added: “Ian Blackford must now resign as Westminster leader or be sacked. And the chief whip and Nicola Sturgeon must also answer serious questions about why the SNP appears to care more about Mr Grady than the young man who says he has gone through a ‘living hell’ since lodging his complaint.”

‘SNP shows their true colours’

In the recording of the SNP meeting, Mr Blackford is heard telling his MPs that “you know how I feel about Patrick” and urged the group to “deliver as much support as possible”.

He added: “He is going to face a number of challenges and needs our absolute full support. I for one very much look forward to welcoming Patrick back into the group next week.”

The SNP suspended the whip from Mr Grady for two days, in line with the recommendation of the independent investigation for sanction in the Commons, but opponents had called for tougher action.

The complainant has said that the recording showed how the SNP was “closing ranks” and “shows them in their true colours”.

Joanna Cherry, one of the leading Westminster critics of the SNP hierarchy, has revealed that she was not at the meeting, ruling her out as a possible source.

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Constitution Secretary, told the BBC on Sunday that there should be a “way back” for Mr Grady, who was previously the chief whip, before he stood down from the post over the allegations.

The investigation found that while the touching was not “intimate”, it was “nevertheless clearly sexual in intent and manner, and clearly inappropriate”. He has apologised for his conduct and accepted the findings of the investigation.

Mr Robertson told the BBC: “Having spoken to Ian Blackford in the past about this very testing situation, I know that he is very, very mindful of the person in question who was treated inappropriately.

“I think there is a wider question as to when decisions are made, which do not talk about career-ending situations… then there has to be a way back for people, while at the same time supporting people who have been treated inappropriately.”

A spokesman for the SNP Westminster parliamentary group said: “The chief whip wrote to all members of the Group to remind them of their legal responsibilities and duties.

“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 wellbeing.”