An SNP MP has been cleared of bullying Nadine Dorries after liking tweets describing her as “grotesque” and a “vacuous goon”.
MP for Ochil and South Perthshire John Nicolson had appealed against a ruling by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner that his conduct on Twitter had amounted to bullying after a complaint by Tory MP Dorries.
An independent panel sided with Nicolson, saying Parliament’s bullying policy “had to be interpreted so as not to preclude vigorous opposition to government, or vigorous defence of government policy and actions. Such is our political system”.
The panel added that the Standards Commissioner had been wrong to ignore Dorries’ own record of tweeting and the fact she had made previous “broad” complaints that had been rejected.
Former culture secretary Dorries announced that she was standing down as an MP earlier this month after she was not given a peerage.
But she is yet to actually resign, in a move which some have said is intended to cause more problems for Rishi Sunak by delaying the date of a by-election.
Dorries was a close ally of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and was reported to have been on his resignation honours list.
Nicolson has represented Ochil and South Perthshire since 2019. He is the party's digital, culture, media and sport spokesperson. He represented East Dunbartonshire between 2015 and 2017.
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