by Rab Bruce’s Spider

For anyone who has been paying attention, stories of a paedophile ring operating in Westminster have been doing the rounds for years. The lack of any progress in identifying the perpetrators has led to all sorts of conspiracy theories and claims of cover ups, and it must be said that the loss of vital files and the succession of people resigning from positions of chairing investigations certainly hasn’t given anyone the impression that the UK Government is keen to take any positive action to either verify or rule out the many claims.

Now, the picture has moved slightly, with talk of a list of 36 Tory MPs who have engaged in sexual harassment, and stories that a small number of similar cases has been highlighted in Holyrood.

First of all, it should not need saying that such actions are totally unacceptable and anyone engaging in such behaviour in any workplace needs to understand that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.

It is noticeable that much of the talk in political circles is about the damage this story is doing and may still do to the Tory Party and to Theresa May. Nobody seems to care very much about the victims of this alleged behaviour, which is perhaps indicative of how Westminster and the media operate.

It is also disturbing, although not entirely surprising, that there are claims that the Prime Minister knew about these allegations and kept them quiet. If this is true, it reinforces the perception that Westminster only takes action when they are found out.

The media reactions are also quite revealing. Some news organisations are doing their best to play down or even ignore the issue, concentrating on other stories instead, while in Scotland we have, unsurprisingly, seen headlines claiming it is only the SNP who have been faced with allegations about sexual misconduct. This is, sadly, the state of the British media today.

It would be foolish to think that any political Party can be exempt from criticism in matters like this. Acts of sexual harassment are usually carried out by individuals, and those individuals can be a member of any Party. What allows them to get away with this behaviour is the culture in which they operate. If their harassment is tolerated, and if victims are not believed or are simply told to accept it as part of their job, then those who wish to act inappropriately will believe they can continue to get away with it.

One thing is clear; any society which has pretensions to be open, honest and equal needs to know that those who are in positions of authority will not abuse that authority. We need clear, unequivocal action from both Holyrood and Westminster. Whether we will get that remains to be seen but, quite honestly, let’s not hold our collective breath. Westminster, in particular, has a long tradition of publicly condemning one or two scapegoats and sweeping most things under the carpet. Even the scapegoats often make a return to public life as if nothing had happened. This needs to change. If ever there was a time for strong and stable leadership, this is it.