SNP MP Patrick Grady resigns as chief whip amid sexual harassment investigation

THE SNP’s chief whip at Westminster has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment.

Patrick Grady, who represents Glasgow North as an MP, has stood down from his whips role while the complaint from an SNP staffer is investigated.

We told how a party staffer claimed he was sexually harassed by two SNP MPs in London pubs.

The complainer alleged that the accusations have been “swept under the carpet” by the party.

The party worker claimed one male MP inappropriately touched him when he was 19 – and alleges a female MP drunkenly asked him for sex in a separate incident.

The SNP confirmed they have now received a formal complaint about sexual harassment.

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The complaint is understood to be connected to the claims made by the party staffer.

An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP has today received a formal complaint.

“That allows due process to take place and we will not be commenting any further while an investigation is underway.”

The man claimed the first alleged harassment incident took place in The Water Poet pub in London in 2016.

He said: “I was sitting on a couch speaking with colleagues and he perched himself on the side of the couch.

“At that point, he started putting his fingers down the back of my collar, touching me inappropriately there.”

The Nats worker said he didn’t report the incident initially because he didn’t want to go “head to head” with an MP – but it was flagged by a witness.

The party staffer claimed he was called into a meeting with Ian Blackford and his alleged abuser, who was sitting on a couch crying.

He said: “At that time, I felt the only thing I could say was that it was okay. I wasn’t going to tear this guy down in front of me. It was pretty hard for me to watch.”

He added: “I wouldn’t view this as mediation. I would view it as ambush.”

But the SNP have claimed that the individual’s account of the meeting with Mr Blackford is “highly inaccurate”.

He claimed the second alleged incident involved a female MP in Westminster’s Strangers Bar last January.

He said: “She was sitting on one of the barstools having a glass of wine and was clearly very, very drunk.

“She was grabbing my hand, pulling me closer and saying to me things like, ‘You should come home with me.’

“She was saying things that were completely inappropriate in terms of what she wanted to do when I went home with her.”

The female MP has reportedly denied these accusations.