An SNP MP has said that Nicola Sturgeon and Ian Blackford did not back her when a fellow party member threatened to rape her due to her views on trans rights.
After Joanna Cherry, 56, was kicked from the SNP front bench at Westminster on February 1, 2021, Grant Karte, 31, barraged her with “a series of abusive and indecent private communications, including threats of sexual harm.”
The Edinburgh South West MP said that she was dismissed by Mr. Blackford because she had been “wrongly accused” of transphobia and “because I have dared to stand up for women’s rights and gay rights,” according to the Political Party podcast, which was published on Tuesday.
She continued by saying that since she and other lesbians “won’t sleep with individuals with penises,” they are subject to discrimination.
In response to the “extremely frightening letters,” comedian Matt Forde questioned Ms. Cherry at the Edinburgh Fringe whether either her leader in London or in Scotland had offered her assistance.
Never, she answered. I’m sorry to have to say this, but I’ll have to honestly respond to your inquiry. Not at all, no.
And subsequently said, “It was really tough to cope with my coworkers’ lack of support.”
Karte was given a 15-month monitoring period, a five-year no-contact order with Ms. Cherry, and 160 hours of community service last July.
She said that the SNP is “overdue” for a leadership election but insisted that as she is an MP rather than an MSP, Ms. Sturgeon cannot now be replaced as first minister of Scotland.
On the evening of February 1 2021, Karte texted her “a series of threatening and offensive private messages, including threats of sexual harm.”
He previously acknowledged to frequently threatening Ms. Cherry over Twitter in violation of the Communications Act 2003 by sending comments that were “grossly offensive or of an indecent, vulgar, or menacing nature.” He was subsequently sentenced in July 2021.
During the live broadcast on Monday, Ms. Cherry, the former SNP spokesman for justice and home affairs, admitted to Mr. Forde that losing her front-bencher position had been “upsetting.”
It was tough for her and her then-girlfriend to cope with. “I got a series of highly frightening texts from someone who turned out to be a party member threatening to rape me,” she claimed.
In addition, none of the work I had done over the previous five years had been acknowledged.
“It felt like I had been, well, cancelled, simply wiped from SNP history,” the speaker said.
Ms. Cherry said that she is “in the battle of my life” to uphold women’s rights as well as the rights of lesbians like myself who are attracted to people of the same sex as themselves as well as homosexual men.
She acknowledged that she understood why she had not received support from the leaders, but she continued: “Due to the no-debate culture, we have created a space in our political discourse where it is acceptable for women to face threats, including rape and death threats, and no one will speak up for them.”
Maybe it’s because, as I previously said, people are terrified that if they stand up for me or support me, they’ll be accused of transphobia themselves. I hasten to add that I do not have transphobia, and it would be a little unexpected if I were given my background.
I am unable to properly respond to that issue, but it is clear that neither the general population nor the power structure have shown any support.
There has been support from several party members as well as numerous other lawmakers.
“But the [SNP] leadership has shown absolutely no support, and I don’t know why.” They would need to be questioned. It’s simply a really sad situation that we have found ourselves in. As I said, I believe maybe they are worried that if they are perceived to be backing me, they would be painted with the same brush.
But I have a lot of support in private from my coworkers.
“I believe that a small percentage of people wanted me to quit the SNP the most. But I don’t intend to leave the SNP.
From a young age, my father and I attended party meetings.
“I resigned a quite lucrative job to become an SNP MP, and I like to believe I put a lot of time and effort into it,” the candidate said. Furthermore, politics is a long-term game. I believe that this age will end.
“I believe the day of no argument is over.”
She also discussed how Patrick Grady was handled differently after being expelled from the SNP and the Commons for a week after an independent review that determined he had behaved improperly against a member of party staff in 2016.
In the Commons, Mr. Grady expressed regret for the event, which the report said occurred when he was intoxicated.
However, Mr. Blackford came under fire after a recording of an SNP group meeting surfaced in June. In the recording, Mr. Blackford was heard saying that Mr. Grady deserved the group’s support upon his return, despite the complainter’s claims that his life had been made a “living hell” and that he had not been supported throughout the process.
The complainant, who is still employed by the party, said that he was thinking about suing the SNP.
In reaction to the video being released, Mr. Blackford expressed his “deep sorrow” that a staff member had experienced improper behaviour.
As a complement to the independent advising service and independent complaints procedure, he said, he was starting an external examination of the “help offered to personnel.”
I admit that I did take it personally. I found that to be quite unfortunate.
When asked whether she would take over as leader of the party in 2026 when it has its next election, Ms. Sturgeon previously said that she could not.
Why would I? she questioned. If I wasn’t driven by the desire to bring about change, why else would I have quit my job and entered politics?
“Being in office, and maybe leading the government, is how you bring about change.”
Therefore, I’m not excluding it. Although I wouldn’t rule it out in the long run, I don’t believe I can see it occurring in the near future.
Ms. Cherry also discussed her “outrageous” lunch she had earlier this year with feminists who have been vocal about the trans issue, including J.K. Rowling, Rosie Duffield, and others.
Without her sisters in parliament and outside of it, she said she couldn’t have survived the “past three years” of “death threats” and “attacks on her integrity.”
Through this, she remarked, “I have established some very amazing new pals.” There has been a concerted effort to intimidate me out of politics, but I have persisted and I’m quite proud of that.