An SNP worker has revealed his life was made a “living hell” and his mental health “destroyed” by sex pest MP Patrick Grady.
The victim, who was 19 at the time, urged the former Nationalist chief whip to stand down from Parliament.
He also said the silent treatment and “bullying” he faced inside the SNP after he came forward was worse than Grady’s sexual advances.
The office employee said: “I thought the SNP was a party of equality but after working in Westminster for six or seven years now I can see now that they’re not any different.”
The man, who still works for the SNP at Westminster, had accused Grady, 42, the MP for Glasgow North, of sexually harassing him at the Water Poet pub in London in October 2016.
Westminster authorities yesterday found Grady, who stepped aside as chief whip when the Record first revealed the claims, guilty of sexual misconduct by touching and stroking his neck, hair and back.
In an exclusive interview, the 25-year-old, who can’t be named to protect his identity, said he felt “vindicated” by the finding – but blasted the punishment of a two-day suspension from Westminster and hit out at the MP’s apology in the Commons.
He said: “I’m bitterly disappointed at such a lenient sanction. It is not only devastating to me but also to other victims of sexual harassment.
“He needs to stand down as he is not fit to be an MP. I’m shocked I will have to go back to work with him. I don’t accept his apology.”
The man said he landed a “dream job” with the SNP when he moved to London as a teenager but said the harassment shattered him.
He originally complained to the SNP but after believing it would go nowhere, he withdrew his claims and lodged them in Westminster’s complaints system last year.
He said after making his initial complaint he was moved from the SNP whips’ office to a role in Westminster leader Ian Blackford’s office, which he described as a “non-job”.
He said: “The SNP has made me feel like it’s my fault, even to this day. I’m not given any work to do and I’m now signed off sick.
“My colleagues don’t speak to me, the MPs barely speak to me. I’m cut out and isolated from work. I feel like I’m being re-victimised all over again.”
He said of the SNP’s treatment of him: “It is bullying. I’ve been cut out of meetings I normally attend with no explanation. I’ve been cut out of email chains and other stuff you’d expect to have access to in a role like mine.
“However I’m still asked to clock in at work. Months have gone by with nothing coming into my inbox for me to do.”
Despite being a victim, he said colleagues turned on him: “The reaction of others in the SNP was not to support me but to start a rumour campaign that I was making it all up.
“This happened despite the public nature of the sexual harassment which many officials and staff would have seen.
“With one or two honourable exceptions, SNP MPs, MSPs and party officials looked away or turned their backs on me and showed no interest in my wellbeing. However they showed every interest in protecting Patrick.”
The victim said the ordeal had taken its toll on his wellbeing and said the SNP’s handling of his complaint had been worse than Grady’s conduct. He added: “It’s destroyed my mental health which in turn has had an effect on my physical health.
“I’m vomiting for days at times – it’s incapacitating. Since making the complaint, it has been a living hell.
“I was punished by the party as a whole. Not any single individual but I think as a collective I’ve been punished.”
He added: “The party’s treatment of me has 100 per cent been more traumatic than Grady’s harassment. The harassment is traumatic but I can block that out.
"But the environment at work – you can’t block that out. That’s your everyday life.
“I always sympathised with women in this situation but I feel that I now truly understand what they are put through.
“There is a toxic culture at Westminster – fuelled by a mix of alcohol, ego and arrogance – and a boys’ club atmosphere.”
He is also scathing of an attempt to resolve the harassment informally in early 2018. The employee said he was called into Blackford’s office, after which he said Grady apologised to him.
He said: “I had no idea what the meeting was about.
“All I had was Ian Blackford calling me on the phone telling me to go up to his office for a meeting.
“When I got there, Patrick was sitting on the couch crying.
“I had no time to digest any of this information that was happening at the time. I just had to sit down and listen to Patrick’s apology.”
The staffer said it was “hard” not to conclude the meeting was an attempt to sweep the claims under the carpet.
He singled out Blackford over his handling of the situation.
He added: “I think that it shows that he’s not a good leader. I think that it shows bad leadership.
“The SNP is the government in Scotland and should be sending a message to employers on how to handle staff. They should be setting a precedent and an example.
“I just don’t think having an off-the-record meeting is an appropriate action for any leader of a party to take when it comes to sexual harassment.”
He said: “I think Blackford owes all the staff an apology for his role in this. It’s not just me who is impacted by this.
“I think he owes an apology to all the staff and the group of MPs.”
The employee found out later that Grady attended behaviour training after the Blackford meeting, but he was not told at the time.
He concluded: “Until the SNP make amends and take action on behalf of victims effectively and follow through behind the scenes with the rhetoric they give to the media, they will stink of hypocrisy which the public will see right through.”
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