Police Scotland are launching an investigation into Jordan Linden, the ex-SNP leader of North Lanarkshire Council, after five men, two of whom have given statements to detectives, made claims against him of sex attacks, child grooming and sexual harassment, some recent and others that date back eight years.
Mr Linden told the media that he did not accept the allegations which had been made against him.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Officers are investigating a report of a sexual assault incident having taken place in 2017. Inquiries are at an early stage and ongoing.”
Linden was forced to stand down as the Leader of North Lanarkshire Council last year when allegations surfaced in the media but was allowed to stay on as a councillor. He finally resigned as a councillor and quit the SNP in March this year amid new allegations and increasing media interest.
Allegations against Linden date back years to when he was involved in the Scottish Youth Parliament. Jack O’Hara, a former SYP member who has waived his right to anonymity, and another former SYP member made the allegations. O’Hara was just 14 when Linden, who was 21 at the time, sent him semi-nude images and sexually explicit messages.
Concerns were raised about Linden’s behaviour, with several high-ranking SNP officials, including ex-chief executive Peter Murrell, SNP compliance officer Ian McCann, business convener Kirsten Oswald MP and current SNP North Lanarkshire group leader Tracey Carragher.
Even when one of Linden’s fellow councillors, Cammie McManus, tried to raise concerns about sexual advances Linden had made to him to the SNP hierarchy, he was not only ignored by senior HQ officials but was disciplined, as were the colleagues who supported him. McManus and several other SNP councillors eventually quit the party in disgust at how it had treated them and the way they had ignored the mounting allegations against Linden.
It is now expected that the police will be contacting the senior SNP officials to probe their actions relating to Linden.
The SNP like to take the moral high ground, often vigorously attacking the other parties over their actions. However, there is mounting evidence that the SNP are now winners of the sleaziest party award, especially when it comes to the sexual conduct of their elected members and the way they deal with complaints against those members.
It is fairly obvious to any observer that senior members of the SNP were fully aware of Linden’s behavior but they not only chose to ignore it and protect him but also sought to harass and punish the complainers.
Linden’s case is not the only one where we have seen the SNP act in this way. In March 2021, newspapers reported that an anonymous letter sent to the House of Commons Speaker John Bercow in 2017 claimed “a member of staff recently left the SNP who was groped sexually by Patrick Grady, the SNP MP for Glasgow North. There was another male staff member who was groped sexually by Mr Grady the same night of last year”. The 18-year-old member of staff, still employed by the SNP, went on to raise a complaint against Grady.
Eventually, there was an independent investigation into Grady by parliament and the complaint against him was upheld. Shockingly, however, he only received a two-day suspension from parliament and a week-long suspension as an SNP member, after which he was readmitted into the party. It now appears that despite calls for him to be expelled from the SNP and to not be allowed to stand at the next election, he will be allowed to defend his seat again and has since been representing the SNP at public events.
In contrast, his victim, who was still employed by the SNP, reports that he was harassed and ostracised by other SNP workers and elected officials, with Ian Blackford, the SNP’s then Westminster party leader, calling on his fellow MP’s to rally round Grady and defend him. Blackford also tried to make the victim accept an apology from Grady and close the case with no action.
As in the case of Linden, it appears that senior SNP members, including Sturgeon, were aware of the allegations well before any investigation was launched but chose to ignore the complaints.
The minute any serious complaint is made against an elected official or a party worker, they should immediately be suspended from the party and an investigation launched by an outside party. If the complaint is serious enough, it should be referred to the police. Any official, no matter how senior, who fails to deal with the complaint in a timely manner and protect the welfare of the complainer should face serious penalties, including potential dismissal from the party.
As we have seen with these cases and other ongoing investigations of the SNP, there appears to be something rotten at the heart of the party. Hopefully, at the next election, the voters will recognise this and punish the SNP at the polls.
