AN SNP MP has been cleared of accusations of bullying Nadine Dorries after a six-month investigation.
John Nicolson, the SNP’s culture spokesperson, was cleared after an extended probe by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) into a series of tweets about the former cabinet minister who now presents a TV show on TalkTV.
They were written while Dorries was still culture secretary in Boris Johnson’s government.
The SNP MP had posted multiple tweets criticising Dorries.
It marked the first known case of a British lawmaker making a formal complaint of cyberbullying against a fellow MP via the ICGS, an independent watchdog set up in 2018 to clamp down on misconduct within Westminster.
Dorries now hosts her own TV show on Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV channel.
No details of the ICGS case have been made public, although according to correspondence seen by Politico, Nicolson was investigated over his Twitter activity in November 2021.
He was investigated following a fiery hearing of the House of Commons culture committee at which Dorries gave evidence.
A transcript of the hearing shows Nicolson questioned Dorries about her own tweets and public comments, including her description of the BBC as “left-wing” and an attack on its “Soviet-style” funding model.
Dorries said she was “not going to answer questions about tweets that I posted 12 years ago, or whenever it was".
Nicolson replied: “It is hard to keep track of your tweets” to which Dorries said: “Not as hard as it is to keep track of yours.”
Nicolson pointed to a tweet by Dorries in which she described LBC presenter James O’Brien as a “public school posh boy f***wit.”
Dorries complained at the hearing that the questions amounted to “personal attacks” and told Nicolson: “As many females do, I quite often have to respond assertively to numerous aggressive, unpleasant tweets.
“Looking at your own tweet history, I wouldn’t say that was something to be particularly proud of either.”
The SNP MP replied: “There is no abuse in my tweet history.”
Following the hearing, Nicolson then liked a series of tweets which were heavily critical of Dorries, including one describing her as a “goon”.
As a result, the ex-Tory minister referred the SNP MP to the ICGS who subsequently launched an investigation.
Nicolson was finally cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this month although both he and Dorries were asked to sign confidentiality agreements, according to Politico.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) operates on the basis of confidentiality for the benefit of all parties.
“Therefore, we cannot provide any information on any complaint, including whether or not a complaint has been received.”
