Patrick Grady's victim calls on disgraced Glasgow MP to quit parliament

He’s also blasted the SNP for "protecting" the former chief whip, despite the findings of Westminster's sleaze watchdog.

Speaking to the Daily Record, the man, who cannot be named and who still works for the party, said he felt “vindicated” but hit out at the punishment.

The Independent Expert Panel has called for Mr Grady to be suspended from parliament for just two days. 

In their report, they said the sanction would have been harsher had the man not spoken to media about his experience.

He said: “I’m bitterly disappointed at such a lenient sanction. It is not only devastating to me but also to other victims of sexual harassment.

“He needs to stand down as he is not fit to be an MP. I’m shocked I will have to go back to work with him. I don’t accept his apology.”

The man said his colleagues in the SNP no longer speak to him and that he feels like he is “being re-victimised all over again.”

He said: “It is bullying. I’ve been cut out of meetings I normally attend with no explanation. I’ve been cut out of email chains and other stuff you’d expect to have access to in a role like mine.

“However I’m still asked to clock in at work. Months have gone by with nothing coming into my inbox for me to do.”

“With one or two honourable exceptions, SNP MPs, MSPs and party officials looked away or turned their backs on me and showed no interest in my wellbeing. However they showed every interest in protecting Patrick,” he added.

The man was just 19 when Mr Grady made unwanted sexual advances toward him at a Christmas Party in 2016.

In their report, the panel said that Mr Grady "under the influence of alcohol, made a sexual advance to the complainant in the mistaken belief that this advance would be welcomed."

It continued: "The advance included the touching and stroking of the complainant's neck, hair, and back. The respondent states that when it became apparent that his conduct was not welcome, he desisted."

Despite the party being aware of the complaint, Mr Grady was allowed to remain in post as the SNP's Chief Whip until March 2021 - when The Herald first revealed the accusations against him.

He was even allowed to speak in a 2019 Commons debate about the harassment of staff.

Last night, the SNP parliamentary group continued to stand by Mr Grady and said they welcomed his apology.

The MP will only have the whip removed for the two days he is suspended from the Commons. The Tories described that as a "mere slap on the wrist."

That lenient punishment contrasts with Nicola Sturgeon’s position in 2017. 

After the solicitor Aamer Anwar said he was aware of a "catalogue of abuse" in Holyrood, with interns, researchers and MSPs all being subjected to sexual harassment, the First Minister said that the Scottish Parliament needed to be a “workplace where there is zero tolerance of such unacceptable behaviours.”

When complaints were made against the SNP MSP Mark McDonald in November, he was suspended from the party while investigations took place. 

When an internal SNP probe said he had deliberately and persistently pestered two women with “inappropriate and unwanted” messages, paid them “unwanted attention causing distress”, and was guilty of “exploiting his position of power,” the First Minister called on him to resign his seat.

When complaints were made against the SNP MSP Mark McDonald in November, he was suspended from the party while investigations took place. 

When an internal SNP probe said he had deliberately and persistently pestered two women with “inappropriate and unwanted” messages, paid them “unwanted attention causing distress”, and was guilty of “exploiting his position of power,” the First Minister called on him to resign his seat.

Yesterday, speaking at the press conference to launch her new push for independence, Ms Sturgeon said she had not yet read the report into Mr Grady’s conduct, but told journalists: “We expect the highest standards from others, we have a duty to ensure the highest standards are abided by within our own ranks as well.”

The panel’s report raised questions about how the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford dealt with the complaint. 

They said his attempt to organise an “impromptu informal resolution” between the two men in 2018 left the victim feeling ambushed and “intimidated” into accepting an apology.

The man told the Daily Record: “I had no idea what the meeting was about.

"All I had was Ian Blackford calling me on the phone telling me to go up to his office for a meeting.

“When I got there, Patrick was sitting on the couch crying.

“I had no time to digest any of this information that was happening at the time. I just had to sit down and listen to Patrick’s apology.”

The man criticised Mr Blackford: “I just don’t think having an off-the-record meeting is an appropriate action for any leader of a party to take when it comes to sexual harassment.”

He said: “I think Blackford owes all the staff an apology for his role in this. It’s not just me who is impacted by this.

“I think he owes an apology to all the staff and the group of MPs.”

In his Commons apology yesterday Mr Grady said he was “profoundly sorry”.

He admitted that the case was “aggravated by a considerable disparity in age and authority between myself and the complainant and further aggravated by excessive consumption of alcohol on my part”.

Mr Grady said he had “learned significant lessons through this process” and insisted that “such behaviour on my part will never happen again”.

The Conservatives said there were still questions for the SNP.

MSP Annie Wells hit out at the party's decision to remove the whip for just two days.

She said: “From day one, the SNP have failed to treat this matter with the seriousness it warranted – and that’s continued with this shamefully weak decision.

“Patrick Grady ought to be considering his position as an MP for his gross breach of trust, so for his party to give him a mere slap on the wrists is an insult to the brave individual who came forward to raise this complaint.

“He was hung out to dry as the SNP sought to cover up exactly what went on and has every right to be furious that Patrick Grady’s only punishment from the party is to lose the whip for two days.

“The SNP have serious questions to answer over their lack of decency, transparency and judgment.

“Their attitude will only put off any future complainers feeling confident enough about coming forward in the future.”

Amy Killen of the Women’s Equality Party was critical of the IEP’s justification for reducing the punishment. She said: “Patrick Grady MP has received only two days suspension for sexually harassing a staffer who was 19.

“The panel ‘justified’ reducing the sanction by blaming the staffer for how he handled a process that had already failed him.

“This is victim-blaming 101. It has no place in our society, least of all in the institution responsible for making our laws.

“Those investigating were more concerned with the reputation of a sexual harasser and the Commons itself than with any real accountability.”