Leader: A step too far

IAN Davidson, Labour chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, demonstrated the worst traits of the traditional Scottish hard man in his comments last week to SNP MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford.

In talking about her getting “a doing”, his language and behaviour were wrong, plain and simple. They reflected the confrontational and intimidatory attitudes common in much of contemporary politics, and – especially when directed at a woman who was the sole representative of her party on the committee – came close to bullying. It raised very important questions about the misogynistic atmosphere in Parliament. In objecting to Davidson’s behaviour, Whiteford was raising a legitimate issue about what is acceptable in political discourse – even when arguments are robust – and it should come as no surprise that most of the reaction to the spat has been supportive of her and critical of Davidson.

The difficulty now is Whiteford’s apparent determination – backed by the SNP machine – to take this argument up a notch or two. In her article today, the SNP MP extends her criticism of Davidson into new and dangerous territory. She writes: “We hear too often of women being told they were ‘asking for it’ in justification for intimidation or violence. I never expected to hear that from an MP in Parliament.” By any measure, this is an accusation too far. Davidson’s language was unacceptable, but does Whiteford really believe Davidson was meaning “a doing” in anything other than a metaphorical sense? His language was beyond the pale, but now so is hers.

One can only assume that the use of the phrase “asking for it” was thought through. But the phrase is not associated with justification of intimidation as Whiteford seeks to claim, but is quite plainly linked to violence against women, particularly domestic violence or sexual assault. Did Whiteford really think she was going to be physically attacked? That is absurd. And for Whiteford to equate Davidson’s behaviour with physical abusers of women, and her own experience last week with that of the many tens of thousands of women across Scotland who are the victims of violence, does those real victims a disservice. Whiteford should perhaps pause and reflect on whether she is being respectful to such women by using their suffering in what is increasingly looking like an attempt to wring maximum political advantage out of an unedifying episode. Whiteford may justly feel aggrieved, but she – and her party’s spin machine – has responsibilities beyond grabbing every opportunity to embarrass Labour. She just torpedoed her very deserving case.

Completely coincidentally, outgoing Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray yesterday complained of a “poison” in Scottish politics emanating from some sectors of the nationalist movement. The bile that comes from some “cybernats” on comment pages and social networking sites has long been acknowledged as an unpleasant fact of life in Scottish politics – and sensible Nationalist politicians recognise it as a problem. There is little the SNP can do about internet trolls venting their inadequacy online, but the party is responsible for the actions of its staff and elected members and shapes the overall culture.

It is hard to look at Whiteford’s “asking for it” remarks and at the same time mount a robust defence against Gray’s allegation. It is surely an allegation that a mature party of government would, in the coming months, seek to dispel. Yes, there is a place for straight-talking and standing up for your beliefs, but the “new politics” of post-expenses’ outrage was supposed to deliver a more honest and respectful relationship between the electorate and the elected. Surely that is the environment that all politicians should seek to create, and that lead should come from the top.