ALEX Salmond was cleared of any criminal conduct by a jury of his peers. Strip everything else in this affair away and we have a man who, by his own admission, behaved inappropriately towards women.
In the last few days we have seen a steady stream of people join his new Alba Party and in doing so they are supporting his move back into public life. I would ask each one of these people to consider this. Had this inappropriate behaviour been directed at your wife, daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter, would you consider him fit to re-enter public life? If the answer is yes, then shame on you.
Too many people are aware of what this type of behaviour means and know of others who have been subjected to it. What does it say to our young girls that certain people in our society feel it is right to give back power to a man whose behaviour has been exposed in this way?
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I have heard it said in relation to this that everyone deserves a second chance.
To merit a second chance there has to be contrition for previous behaviour and for that to happen there has to be an acknowledgement of that behaviour being wrong. None of this has been forthcoming from Alex Salmond. Did the “Me Too” movement mean nothing?
We are seeing an outpouring from young people in this country and beyond of the prevalence of inappropriate behaviour in schools and workplaces by people who hold the balance of power. For those people who have either been exposed to such behaviour or know someone who has, that this man is held in such esteem by people who should know better saddens me and makes me anxious for the future.
I have four young granddaughters and I sincerely hope that in the future, I do not have to explain why such a person was voted back into the Scottish Parliament.
Jane Slater
Stirling
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