Patrick Grady, the MP for Glasgow since 2015, was suspended from the Commons for two days in 2022 after inappropriately touching a party worker on a night out. Commons watchdogs described the incident as “unwelcome physical touching” with “sexual intent” and concluded that it was a breach of the parliament’s sexual misconduct policy.
Despite the scandal, the SNP former chief whip reportedly plans to stand for re-election at the forthcoming general election, subject to party vetting. According to the Scottish Sun, Grady believes he could tap into the religious vote thanks to his previous tenure as an advocacy manager for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund. He is also a member of Westminster’s cross-party Holy See group, which sends delegations to the Vatican, further cementing his church links.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn is reportedly aware of Grady’s plans for re-election but, so far, the party has failed to comment. Grady was readmitted back into the party after a six-month suspension for his misconduct, which tells us all we need to know about the SNP’s blasé attitude towards sexual misconduct.
This kind of sleaze is seemingly rife within the SNP, which is already facing controversy over sexual misconduct by Jordan Linden, the former leader of North Lanarkshire Council. He resigned from his position in March after multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including that of a teenager at a party.
The young SNP worker assaulted by Grady has said that he should not be allowed to seek candidacy again, and that by allowing him to do so, the SNP is emboldening him. We agree. The likes of Grady and Linden should hold no place in politics, and the sickening hypocrisy of indulging in sexual deviancy whilst grifting off the back of religious institutions speaks volumes about the immorality of British politics.
Homeland would only field political candidates who are of the highest calibre and who embody our wholesome values. These essentially revolve around the family unit and instilling decency and morality back into our society. Sexual misconduct would never be tolerated in our party.
