Westminster sexual abuse scandals

[elbows]

I agree, so what framework is that? And, if the law / codes of practice etc are not breached - what then - an expansion of the law and codes to encompass all possible forms of behaviour and interaction? It is a slippery slope.

No it isn't a slippery slope. There is plenty that can be improved without anyone being able to sensibly claim that things have gone too far, or that we are heading for nightmare scenario x as a result of people finally taking this stuff more seriously.

 

[Beats & Pieces]

No it isn't a slippery slope. There is plenty that can be improved without anyone being able to sensibly claim that things have gone too far, or that we are heading for nightmare scenario x as a result of people finally taking this stuff more seriously.

The point is - how?

 

[agricola]

I agree, so what framework is that? And, if the law / codes of practice etc are not breached - what then - an expansion of the law and codes to encompass all possible forms of behaviour and interaction? It is a slippery slope.

There isn't a common framework for Crown servants, though there are common things that apply to almost all of them - not enriching oneself for personal gain, dealing with people honestly and fairly, behaving in a non-exploitative way towards less senior types etc. Of course, MPs are the exception to this and its hard to see how one would ever fix it without an election on that specific subject.

 

[Beats & Pieces]

There isn't a common framework for Crown servants, though there are common things that apply to almost all of them - not enriching oneself for personal gain, dealing with people honestly and fairly, behaving in a non-exploitative way towards less senior types etc. Of course, MPs are the exception to this and its hard to see how one would ever fix it without an election on that specific subject.

Perhaps that is the key - the MP is (ideally) answerable to the electorate. If his / her behaviour falls outside any contemporary punitive framing - they can be removed.

 

[agricola]

Perhaps that is the key - the MP is (ideally) answerable to the electorate. If his / her behaviour falls outside any contemporary punitive framing - they can be removed.

Well no, because that is the theory as it exists now and it has been demonstrated not to work.

 

[Orang Utan]

An MP is also answerable to their party and to parliament and I think reprehensible behaviour is covered by either's rules of conduct.

 

[Dogsauce]

BBC seems to be making May out to be dealing with this heroically from the headlines over the last day - I can see how this is being spun already. We'll have to see whether actions (such as withdrawing the whip) match up to the words.

 

[ruffneck23]

Three dozen Tory MPs 'accused of inappropriate behaviour'

 

[Pickman's model]

Three dozen Tory MPs 'accused of inappropriate behaviour'

Fingers this is the sort of thing that happens if there isn't a smaller catastrophe every day

 

[Pickman's model]

BBC seems to be making May out to be dealing with this heroically from the headlines over the last day - I can see how this is being spun already. We'll have to see whether actions (such as withdrawing the whip) match up to the words.

There will be no real action as goodbye to a couple of MPs is goodbye to her government

 

[hot air baboon]

the whip's will be going through the little black book to see which members of the awkward squad can be conveniently binned - a good day to bury bad backbenchers / junior government members

 

[Pickman's model]

Perhaps that is the key - the MP is (ideally) answerable to the electorate. If his / her behaviour falls outside any contemporary punitive framing - they can be removed.

When can they be removed?

 

[Fingers]

Not too sure how they are going to get out of this mess. Questions will be asked on why may has had a weekly list of MPs getting up to scandalous stuff and has never acted on it. Plus she will be thinking about her already precarious 'majority'.

PMQs should be interesting.

 

[Pickman's model]

Not too sure how they are going to get out of this mess. Questions will be asked on why may has had a weekly list of MPs getting up to scandalous stuff and has never acted on it. Plus she will be thinking about her already precarious 'majority'.

PMQs should be interesting.

It will be interesting if criminal acts have been on this list & may hasn't demanded the police be informed

 

[Dogsauce]

Not too sure how they are going to get out of this mess. Questions will be asked on why may has had a weekly list of MPs getting up to scandalous stuff and has never acted on it. Plus she will be thinking about her already precarious 'majority'.

PMQs should be interesting.

She'll be prepped with a counter attack, something along the lines of 'won't be lectured on equality issues following Labour's appalling inaction over anti-semitism'.

 

[Spymaster]

She'll be prepped with a counter attack, something along the lines of 'won't be lectured on equality issues following Labour's appalling inaction over anti-semitism'.

She can only deal with the tory ones though. At the moment the sexpest breakdown looks pretty evenly split between the two main parties. There'll be loads more to come too. There are quite a few politicians sleeping poorly at the moment, I reckon.

 

[killer b]

the whip's will be going through the little black book to see which members of the awkward squad can be conveniently binned - a good day to bury bad backbenchers / junior government members

I don't think so - any leader using this for factional gains would be crucified. They'll have to make an effort to appear even handed.

 

[Pickman's model]

She can only deal with the tory ones though. At the moment the sexpest breakdown looks pretty evenly split between the two main parties. There'll be loads more to come too. There are quite a few politicians sleeping poorly at the moment, I reckon.

they should be up and out at this time of day, pa, not lazing in bed

 

[Silas Loom]

She can only deal with the tory ones though. At the moment the sexpest breakdown looks pretty evenly split between the two main parties. There'll be loads more to come too. There are quite a few politicians sleeping poorly at the moment, I reckon.

Absolutely. It's just like the expenses scandal; no opportunity to make political capital, and a cross-party effort to a) sacrifice a couple of egregious offenders on both sides, b) adopt an amnesty for prior offending for everyone else, c) enforce better standards from now on.

Whatever is done, it will have an interesting impact on selection processes, and on funding or reporting lines for researchers.

 

[Pickman's model]

She'll be prepped with a counter attack, something along the lines of 'won't be lectured on equality issues following Labour's appalling inaction over anti-semitism'.

pity corbyn won't point to jacob rees-mogg hobnobbing with fascists


Jacob Rees-Mogg | Beastrabban\'s Weblog

 

[teqniq]

pity corbyn won't point to jacob rees-mogg hobnobbing with fascists

View attachment 119138
Jacob Rees-Mogg | Beastrabban\'s Weblog

Why though? Surely this is an open goal?

 

[Pickman's model]

Why though? Surely this is an open goal?

he just won't. if he hasn't done it already with all the accusations of anti-semitism i doubt he will do now.

 

[teqniq]

The real parliamentary sex scandal is the cover-up

 

[tim]

Three dozen Tory MPs 'accused of inappropriate behaviour'

A lot more than her majority, I still think we may see an emergency government of national unity before the year is over with this and BREXIT hitting together.

 

[Wilf]

I heard about 2 minutes of a R4 thing last night when driving (the Westminster Hour, I think). There were a couple of female MPs, one of whom sounded like Caroline Flint, talking a lot of sense ( ). Essentially, expressing outrage about power and the gropey culture at Westminster - along with a Tory MP hurriedly adding 'oh, erm, yes I agree'. The interesting thing was as soon as the possibility of any kind of outside scrutiny or management of the issue was mentioned, they all went with the 'it has to be up to MPs to regulate this... talk to the speaker, beef things up blah blah'*. Don't get me wrong, I don't see setting up some kind of Stop The MPs Raping People quango as the answer, it's more deepseated than that. But it was still interesting to see them scuttle back into the safety zone of Parliament's 'unique' position. Shades of the expenses scandal.

* admittedly I'd turned it off by then, so they might have gone on to a more robust solution.

 

[existentialist]

The point is - how?

That's a detail. At the moment, I suspect there'd be a fair amount of debate as to "whether". Particularly from those most likely to be negatively affected by more oversight.

 

[Pickman's model]

A lot more than her majority, I still think we may see an emergency government of national unity before the year is over with this and BREXIT hitting together.

 

[SpookyFrank]

BBC seems to be making May out to be dealing with this heroically from the headlines over the last day - I can see how this is being spun already. We'll have to see whether actions (such as withdrawing the whip) match up to the words.

She's 'demanding action' apparently. Who exactly she is demanding act, given that she herself is in charge of the country, we can only wonder.

 

[Wilf]

From the grauniad's feed:

The Labour MP John Mann told LBC that he knew of four cases of “objectionable behaviour”, including two where women made complaints, one to her political party and one to the parliamentary authorities. One of the allegations “passes the criminal threshold” and one is “appalling”, he said.

He told LBC:

These are within the last couple of years, both of these, so we’re talking of actual complaints where the woman have, in one case, been told to get lost, it’s nothing to do with us, and in the other case, nothing is done and she’s not even got back to with a response, which shows how badly actual complaints are treated and these are serious complaints.

Mann said he was calling for the cases, which relate to two different parties but do not involve Conservatives, to be reopened. He added:

In one case, the police were involved and then the police couldn’t prosecute because the alleged assault took place abroad.

With it being John Mann, you have a slight suspicion that one of the MPs he is tilting it will turn out to be a Labour lefty. But that aside, I can see that he's pushing to get these names out in the public domain. But with all thoughts about due process and the rest, this is at the point where he needs to just fucking come out with it and name them (particularly the one who seems to have been reported to the police but nothing happened on grounds of jurisdiction). If you've got something credible to say, just fucking say it.

 

[Raheem]

Who exactly she is demanding act, given that she herself is in charge of the country...

Well, nominally.