Is it never going to stop?

I was just pointing out my position on the subject annie. I think it's fine to criticise any government polices or any opposition policy for that matter but this type of behaviour is not party political.

He went to the police to report the crime of blackmail. The police arrested him. Make up your own mind from that.

I feel the same.

Being wrongly accused of anything is awful. Unfortunately many people go down the route of 'There's no smoke without fire' rather than the 'Innocent until proven guilty'!

I was accused of assault by a couple of naughty students who had been kept in detention by me. I was suspended, and with no CCTV available in a suitable place, found it difficult to defend myself. When I heard who was in charge of the investigation I knew I probably wouldn't get a fair hearing and decided to resign rather than fight. The head wanted me gone as I was too strict and 'old school' for his taste! (He was the type who tries to be every child's best friend.) I was not told the exact accusation and only found out after I got a new job at a different school and it came up on my DBS! I knew the kids had lied, but the scenario they described was laughable! I showed it to someone who immediately said "You couldn't have done that, you're not tall enough!" Thankfully I was able to get the incident removed and worked happily in the new school until I retired. The school I left had a bad reputation, struggled to attract new pupils, and is now closed! Kids from the area now have to be bussed out to other schools unless they pass the 11+ and go to the grammar school!

When anyone makes a false accusation they have no idea of the harm they may be doing to someone's life, career and reputation, so I feel very sorry for anyone accused who is in the public eye. Accusations should not be publicly revealed until charges are made. I was lucky to only suffer a short period of unemployment and a lot of stress, then find a better role in an outstanding school. Had I fought the accusation and lost (and not knowing the precise accusation I thought I might) my career would have been gone as well as much of my personal life affected if I had been excluded from the voluntary roles I undertake if I didn't have a clear DBS! Once it happened to me I found out about lots of people who had also experienced false accusations. Because I talked openly about it they then opened up and confided in me! It is shocking how commonplace this is, particularly amongst teachers.

If this MP is innocent I hope he will be completely cleared, if not may he be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But let's stop speculating until the facts are established.

I think many people who make false accusations know exactly what harm they are causing. They do it with the express intention of causing harm.

Glad all was well for you jo.

Charges like this, or of this type, are not necessarily available to just one group of people.

For MaizieD, if you're trying to convince yourself and others that Tories (NB See that other thread re grammar and spelling errors?!) have exclusive rights to being crooks, cads and con-men (or women of course) then I suggest you should take those red-tinged blinkers off and get real.

I've already posted on here a couple of times that being incompetent or corrupt (or a pervert) has no boundaries as to which badge that politico is wearing, anyone from any party can have failings (and I have no special party leanings - I long ago suggested we should contract out our Govt to somewhere sensible like Denmark or Holland).

Ex PM Tony Bliar, let's see, how many times over is he a millionaire these days, still calls himself a socialist? Perhaps you missed the scandal over his exploration of the property market in, what was it, Bristol? His chief backer, Peter Mandelson, (now Lord - hoho!), was suspended so often by his own party (for corruption) that I lost count.

This I found from the Guardian :- "Fiona Onasanya to try to stay on as MP despite jail sentence" -- "Former Labour MP given three-month sentence for lying to avoid speeding ticket".

From another (right-wing!) paper:- Keir Starmer was brutally skewered by Andrew Marr for comments about Tory sleaze despite his own party seeing seven MPs handed jail sentences in just ten years.

During a discussion about the ongoing Owen Paterson scandal, who resigned as an MP following a lobbying debacle, the Labour leader was questioned by Andrew Marr about Claudia Webbe, the Leicester East MP who was handed a suspended 10-week jail sentence and 200 hours of community service for threatening an acid attack on a woman.

The seven Labour MPs who have been caged in the last ten years are: David Chayter, Eric Illsley, Denis MacShane, Fiona Onasanya, Jim Devine, Elliot Morley and now Claudia Webbe [NB - that quote was from 2021].

Oh, and for any LibDem fans on here who are tempted to show some moral superiority, I give you Jeremy Thorpe, and Cyril Smith. Plus this >>> "David Steel quits Lib Dems after child abuse inquiry report". The former Liberal leader David Steel is to leave parliament after being accused by an official report of having “abdicated his responsibility” when recommending Cyril Smith, an MP facing child sexual abuse allegations, for a knighthood.

The damning verdict on the Liberal Democrat peer featured prominently in the investigation by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) in and around Westminster.

Political parties, police and prosecutors “turned a blind eye” to accusations of abuse connected to parliament and government, ignored child victims and showed excessive “deference” to MPs and ministers fighting to clear their reputations, the study found.

All very depressing isn't it?!

I suggest you take a running jump, DrW.

And to those who are telling us that women who cry rape can't be trusted to tell the truth isn't it male on male rape that is involved in this case?

Why do you tell DrW to take a running jump Maizie? Do you dispute the facts she has stated about various political figures?

I would however take issue with her suggestion that being a multi-millionaire is incompatible with being a socialist.

As I have said repeatedly it is in my view dangerous to make any links between political party and this behaviour, its magical thinking.

You forgot Keith Vaz, Dr Watson 😃
(Just saying)

MaizieD

I suggest you take a running jump, DrW.

And to those who are telling us that women who cry rape can't be trusted to tell the truth isn't it male on male rape that is involved in this case?

Why suggest a running jump?

Everything in DrW's message is true.

And what happened to page 5 of this discussion? It has disappeared from my iPad! I was heartened by the post from Dr.Watson. So detailed and skewered the whole tenor of WWM2 and Maizie. And Maizie’s retort was a very poor response! I await more posts like that of Dr.Watson.

All pages if the thread are visible on my device.

There isn’t a page 5 yet

So many , including some on here, seem to believe that women deserved whatever they got. People say "they asked for it", "she was wearing suggestive clothing" and so on.

Rape can be regarded as a war crime:

In 2008, the U.N. Security Council adopted resolution 1820, which noted that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide".

1. Sexual violence is a war crime

Rape and other forms of sexual violence are prohibited under international humanitarian law (IHL) in international and non-international armed conflict.

As a serious violation of IHL, sexual violence constitutes a war crime.The Statute of the International Criminal Court includes rape and some other forms of sexual violence in the list of war crimes and in the list of acts that constitute crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.

Rape and other forms of sexual violence may also constitute other international crimes when committed under specific circumstances, for instance the crime of torture or a constitutive act of genocide. (from the International Committee of the Red Cross)

The majority of rapes are committed by men against women. The act of rape gives men power over women. Why else does it occur so often in conflict situations, often by several men against, sometimes, just one woman.

Anniel

And what happened to page 5 of this discussion? It has disappeared from my iPad! I was heartened by the post from Dr.Watson. So detailed and skewered the whole tenor of WWM2 and Maizie. And Maizie’s retort was a very poor response! I await more posts like that of Dr.Watson.

Still on Page 1!