SNP MP John Nicolson cleared of bullying Nadine Dorries
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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John Nicolson was cleared of bullying Ms Dorries
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”.
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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.
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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.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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