An SNP MP has been accused of making “appalling” comments about sexual harassment during a probe into allegations she pestered a male staffer. A submission by Patricia Gibson claimed it is “discriminatory” to say the impact of sexual harassment of a man by a woman is the same as by a male against a female.
Extracts also stated it was “highly unlikely” the complainer would have felt “any kind of physical threat or vulnerability” as a man.
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “Patricia Gibson’s bizarre comments are simply appalling and utterly out of order. There can be no hierarchy of harassment based on gender.”
The North Ayrshire and Arran MP was accused of sexual misconduct in Westminster’s Stranger’s Bar in 2020 – a claim she vehemently denied. She allegedly subjected an SNP staffer to unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature when she was drunk, including stroking his arm and back through his clothes.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld an allegation of sexual misconduct, but it was overturned on appeal after an independent panel ruled the initial investigation had been materially flawed. The Record has obtained extracts from a “factual accuracy check”, containing issues raised by Gibson on the original investigation.
On the investigator, the submission stated: “She reports that [two witnesses] did not view the contact between the two as sexual – but (possibly in response to a prompt from the investigator?) she reports that they said they might view it differently if the sexes were reversed.
"The sexes were not, however, reversed, and the investigator has failed to consider this properly. In this context it is highly unlikely that [he] would have felt any kind of physical threat or vulnerability as a man.
“He is, for instance, reported to have remained in her company for a prolonged period and left the bar also in her company. The investigator has failed to take this into account.
“It is discriminatory to suggest that the impact of sexual harassment of a man by a woman is ‘the same’ as sexual harassment of a woman by a man.”
The document also contained the watchdog’s response to these claims: “The report does not express a view or make any assumption as to whether the impact of sexual harassment of a man by a woman is ‘the same’ as sexual harassment of a woman by a man.”
A sexual misconduct claim by the same SNP staff member against MP Patrick Grady was upheld.
Tory MSP Annie Wells said: “This is an astonishing revelation. It is not for the SNP MP accused of this allegation at this time when making her submission to decide how the complainer would have felt. Patricia Gibson has serious questions to answer over why she thought it was appropriate to try and make this claim about a complainer in an allegation involving sexual harassment.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Harassment is harassment regardless of the gender of either the perpetrator or victim.”
The Record asked the SNP if Gibson wanted to respond, but no comment was provided.
She said after the appeal ruling was published in June: “I am grateful to the Independent Expert Panel for its work and comprehensive assessment of this case. I am reassured that the Independent Expert Panel has exonerated me.”
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