SNP MP John Nicolson cleared of bullying Nadine Dorries

Published

2 years ago

June 20, 2023

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An SNP MP has been cleared of bullying Nadine Dorries after liking tweets describing her as “grotesque” and a “vacuous goon”.

John Nicolson, MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, had appealed a ruling by the parliamentary standards commissioner that his conduct on Twitter had amounted to bullying after a complaint by the former culture secretary.

Overturning a previous ruling, an independent expert panel highlighted comments made by Ms Dorries on social media, including saying she would “nail [a journalist’s] balls to the floor using [their] front teeth”.

It was also noted “a number of occasions where [Ms Dorries] has advanced spurious complaints of harassment or bullying, which have been rejected or dismissed”.

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Ms Dorries’ complaint related to a series of “disparaging” tweets Mr Nicolson, the SNP’s culture spokesperson, had liked and retweeted following her appearance at the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in November 2021.

The former culture secretary made a formal complaint to parliament’s independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS) almost a year later in October 2022, alleging that liking these tweets amounted to bullying and harassment.

She complained Mr Nicolson’s behaviour in the House and social media activity – liking or retweeting “disparaging material” about Ms Dorries 168 times in 24 hours – constituted bullying and harassment.

The then-secretary of state also complained about a “spurious point of order” in the chamber of the House of Commons – an act where an MP challenges the actions of another MP through the Speaker.

Although an initial investigation recommended clearing Mr Nicolson, standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg disagreed, saying he was “satisfied that Ms Dorries was “left feeling vulnerable, upset, undermined, humiliated, denigrated or threatened’ by Mr Nicolson’s conduct” and had therefore been bullied.

Appealing against the decision, Mr Nicolson told the independent panel that the complaint was “political and personal” rather than genuine, and arose from the fact he had been “effective in exposing the complainant’s weakness as a minister and exposing problems with her own record, which might militate against her being accorded a peerage”.

SNP MP ‘unwise’ with retweets

The panel found Mr Greenberg had not paid enough attention to the “highly charged political context” of the complaint or Ms Dorries’ own record of tweeting, which had involved use of “strong language”.

The panel also noted that Ms Dorries had made no complaint at the time Mr Nicolson liked the disparaging tweets, or even after he raised a point of order in the Commons following a subsequent select committee appearance, in which she wrongly claimed the subjects of a Channel 4 documentary had been actors.

It did note that similar behaviour as that seen between politicians may not be acceptable in other walks of life.

The panel also noted that liking and retweeting tweets were not “neutral” acts and Mr Nicolson had been “unwise” to do so with some of the tweets in question.

In response, Ms Dorries said that “a shadow of doubt” was being cast over “parliamentary process and the conduct of individual MPs” because an independent expert panel overruled a decision that was initially advised against.

She tweeted: “In any workplace other than parliament where the rule of law, not privilege, applies, Nicholson (sic) would have been instantly dismissed.

“I’m disappointed that the Standards Commissioner’s verdict has been overturned in this way. It seems strange to me that it can be done on the basis of ‘new evidence’ which I have not seen or been given the opportunity to respond to.

“Once again, a shadow of doubt is cast over parliamentary process and the conduct of individual MPs.”

Ms Dorries announced she was standing down as an MP with “immediate effect” almost a week ago, but is yet to actually leave the Commons.

World

At least 85 Palestinians killed in Gaza strikes, local health authorities say

Published

8 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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At least 85 Palestinians killed in Gaza strikes, local health authorities say

Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Five UN staff members have also been killed, according to the head of the UNRWA.

It comes as fighting in the enclave has restarted in recent days.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, said on Thursday: “In the past few days, another five UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed, bringing the death toll to 284.

“They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable.”

He added he feared “the worst is yet to come”.

“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again and again going through their worst nightmare,” he said in a statement.

“An endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”

Speaking in Parliament, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK government opposed the resumption of Israel’s hostilities and added that a British national was among the wounded when a UN compound was struck on Wednesday.

Israel has previously said it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

It denied previous reports it had targeted a UN compound.

Israel resumes strikes

On Tuesday, Israel resumed heavy airstrikes on the enclave killing more than 400 people, bringing to a halt the ceasefire that had paused fighting in the 17-month war.

A day later, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) relaunched ground operations, seizing part of a key corridor that divides the north and south of Gaza – the Netzarim corridor.

On Thursday, the IDF said it had begun a ground operation in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties.

It was the first such attack since the resumption of the IDF’s strikes.

Hospitals across Gaza said the strikes hit houses in Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

The European Hospital in Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in strikes on two family homes overnight.

A father and his seven children were killed in one of the attacks, it added.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home, it said.

Meanwhile, Hamas said talks with mediators were ongoing.

Fragile ceasefire

Hamas and Israel disagreed over how to proceed with the ceasefire after phase one came to an end.

The militant group wanted to move onto phase two to negotiate Israel’s permanent withdrawal from Gaza, the release of hostages in exchange for more prisoners and an eventual end to the war.

Israel wanted to temporarily extend phase one and for more hostages to be released.

It cut off all supplies to Gaza to try and pressure the group into doing so before restarting its military campaign.

The war started after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities,

World

Trump just wants a Ukraine-Russia deal – will Putin or Zelenskyy blink first?

Published

14 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Trump just wants a Ukraine-Russia deal - will Putin or Zelenskyy blink first?

The tone has changed totally. It’s a remarkable turnaround from the Oval Office meltdown to the perfect phone call.

President Trump is wholly transactional. His desire for give and take far outweighs any ideological instincts. He has no particular alignment to Ukraine or, for that matter, to Russia.

He just wants a deal. Peace would stop the killing as he has said repeatedly. It would also allow for deals which can benefit America: recouping the taxpayer money spent on Ukraine and reconnecting the American economy with Russia.

But trumping all that is his legacy and his image. He wants to be seen as the peacemaker president.

Since the Oval Office moment, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy seems now to have recognised all that.

Ukraine’s approach towards Trump has changed. Zelenskyy is now playing his game: transactionalism.

The minerals deal hasn’t dissolved. The indications I am getting is that it’s essentially been upgraded and broadened to a wider scope: fuller economic cooperation.

Zelenskyy needs to encourage America deep into his country economically. Has he bought into the idea that a US economic footprint amounts to a key part of a security guarantee?

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The old adage is: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” That’s too true with President Trump.

Zelenskyy now feels like he’s at the table and I am told he doesn’t feel coerced.

The challenges remain huge though: he doesn’t trust Putin. That’s what he tried to tell President Trump in the Oval Office. The performance that day proved to him that Trump is inclined to trust Putin.

Zelenskyy must use transactionalism to draw an impatient Trump in.

President Trump is in a hurry for a deal. He’s inclined to accept wholly disingenuous commitments from Russia, or as one source put it to me: “Trump has a high tolerance for bullshit…”

That’s the jeopardy for Zelenskyy.

World

Donald Trump has ‘very good’ call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he discusses US ownership of Ukrainian energy plants

Published

23 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Donald Trump has 'very good' call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he discusses US ownership of Ukrainian energy plants

US President Donald Trump has had a “very good” call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House says, during which US ownership of Ukraine’s energy network was discussed to help protect it.

Mr Trump also agreed to “help locate” additional air defence support in Europe after a request from the Ukrainian leader, a statement about the one-hour phone call said.

Further talks will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the coming days, and the US will continue intelligence sharing with Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Mr Trump also agreed to work to ensure missing Ukrainian children are returned home and both parties agreed to a temporary 30-day ceasefire involving attacks against energy facilities, with the US president saying the US “could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”, Ms Leavitt said.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio also issued a statement about the call saying that “President Trump also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants.

“He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

The White House statement added that Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy also reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely.

The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the details of implementing a partial ceasefire, with discussions to include expanding any ceasefire to the Black Sea.

Could US nuclear power takeover replace the minerals deal?

By David Blevins, Sky correspondent, in Washington DC

The readout of the call from President Zelenskyy was conciliatory, repeatedly thanking Donald Trump for military support and for his peace efforts.

In agreeing to a partial ceasefire, he held out the prospect of US investment in Ukrainian power – perhaps deeming that more of a security guarantee than the minerals deal.

“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” the Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz readout of Trump-Zelenskyy call said.

Trump agreed to continue sharing intelligence but when Zelenskyy asked for additional air defence, he said he’d see what was available in Europe.

That’s a vague response from the US president as he seeks to keep both Ukraine and Putin on board.

Those ambiguous words and the change in tone are both indicative of the sensitive point they’ve reached days before fresh negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

“We have never been closer to peace,” Ms Leavitt added.

In comments later on Wednesday, Mr Zelenskyy said that Mr Trump understands that Ukraine will not recognise occupied land as Russian, and that he would like the US president to visit Ukraine – adding that “it would be helpful for Trump in his peace efforts”.

In an earlier statement, President Zelenskyy said the two leaders had “a positive, very substantive and frank conversation”.

Mr Zelenskyy echoed much of Mr Trump’s statement about what was decided, and said later that he “felt no pressure” from the US president.

“We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” Mr Zelenskyy said

He added that Ukraine would “continue working to make this happen”.

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“I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength. We agreed to maintain constant contact, including at the highest level and through our teams.”

In an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the “very good” phone call lasted around one hour.

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr Trump said.

“We are very much on track,” he added.

The call marks the first time Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have spoken since the disastrous confrontation in the White House last month.

Mr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington expecting to sign a critical minerals deal but left early after he and Trump clashed in front of the world’s cameras.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin held a phone call lasting about an hour and a half in which the Russian leader rejected a full 30-day ceasefire.

He agreed to not attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. The two countries also swapped 175 prisoners each earlier this morning.