Brendan Cox has resigned

Employment lawyer, I've worked somewhere where a manager did pretty much exactly that (allegedly). He had sexually harassed all of the women who worked for him including me. He was fired but got an unfair dismissal ruling as it was cheaper for the insurers.
Totally agree Brendan Cox shouldn't have been doing the jobs in the first place. The STC allegations alone made this a liability all along. My point was more: there are a lot of men and employers who potentially could be in for similar treatment. Which news outlet will go after who and why? I don't trust the purity of their motives. And how is Trump immune so far when we've all heard the tape of him boasting about assaulting women?

He is a total disgrace. But this in his own right and it in no way impacts on his late wife or the values she stood up for. There is an unpleasant undercurrent (glee almost) on social media from right wingers that it somehow devalues her too simply because it now transpires that her husband is a first class prick (which of course she may or may not have known about).

Some of the allegations pre-date her murder so he couldn’t have just behaved after the event. There was always the potential for the truth to be revealed.

It also doesn’t undermine what he said about Jo in the immediate aftermath of her death. Everything I have read supports that she was truly a force for good.

Hopefully he will step into the shadows and concentrate on protecting his children and rebuilding trust with family and friends.

I really hope his victims come forward with a blow by blow account of what happened. I am sure it would make an enlightening read.

Brendan I hope you are reading this. In fact I would be most surprised if you or your PR team don't read mumsnet given we are the demographic you are aiming your transparently inadequate apology to. Your statement is full of victim blaming. You excuse your behaviour as little more than a misunderstanding. It wasn't really your fault, your victims misconstrued your intentions. There was no malice, you meant it to be jokey and flirty. Well, Brendan, if you really believe that why don't you share with us all exactly what you did. Or how about you tell us if you would be OK with someone doing this to your daughter at some point. This was not an apology or really even a confession. It was your attempt to excuse your behaviour whilst minimising it. And we can all see though it.

If you seek to take the moral high ground that leaves you exposed.

Yes. If you "identify" as good and virtuous, you lose the perspective to reflect on your actions.

Without excusing him, sexual harassment is everywhere, but Brendan Cox is one man

Get a grip. I'm an employment lawyer and have dealt with lots of issues of sexual harassment. In a 12 year career, I have never come across a man allegedly grabbing amother employee by the throat. This is extremely serious, aggravated assault

As for the Daily Mail agenda, if Brendan Cox wasn't a sexual preadator, there would be nothing to report

Without excusing him, sexual harassment is everywhere, but Brendan Cox is one man. I could literally throw a stick and find an employer where there has been some sexual harassment, so why has the Daily Mail singled him out? Oh, that's right, More in Common has links to the Stop Funding Hate campaigns which succeeded in losing the Daily Mail advertisers. And Oxfam's not an accident either. They just released a report the government didn't like, but the allegations are seven years old. Sadly, I've never known a situation where you put men from rich countries with poorer women in poorer countries without sexual exploitation taking place sooner or later and international development NGOs are not as immune as you'd think.
What I'm seeing is a male dominated system switching on to the fact that this is a useful new tool. I wish and hope that it will also be the start of the long, long awaited change, but I'm not holding my breath. And if this is the new way to take down your opposition, why on earth is it taking so long to get Trump? How many non-disclosures can there be out there? Is the GOP waiting until he's served his purpose and become too much of a liability?
Oops, I appear to have woken up a conspiracy theorist this morning.

What a horrible vile man. I don't know wether I am more saddened by the mental gymnastics those in the Labour Party are doing to excuse/minimise his behaviour, or the fact I am not in the least bit surprised they are doing so.

Can't stand the man.
Bit my tongue until now.

Afaik he also left before the disciplinary process could take place which meant they couldn't complete the process and couldn't mention the harassment on any references. He did the opposite of take responsibility and tbh I have no respect for the Foundation since they have tried to minimise this by talking about his integrity.

@Lottapianos

Yes I totally agree!

Then and now for Lucy Powell MP:

twitter.com/Jamin2g/status/965012280973946880

There is a massive problem in our culture with women minimising this sort of behaviour.People assume its a male problem but there are many women who will overlook disgusting behaviour in men or find excuses for it.

The minimising is dreadful and shows that he doesn't have insight in to his actions. He was their boss and a married man. Harassing women for sex shouldn't be on anybody's agenda, drunk or sober. He clearly had no inhibitions and that's really alarming.

They all knew he was a sex pest. They just hoped the public didn't notice and that the media didn't go after him out of respect for Jo.
bluescreen it's newsworthy because some of the women are sharing the details of the attacks for the first time. It's also newsworthy in the context of MeToo.

'My blood is already boiled this morning because I saw Prof Mary Beard tweet about how we shouldn't judge Oxfam aid workers too harshly because none of us know how we would react if we were placed in an extreme situations'

Oh FFS. Like fucking prostitutes is a totally normal response to a stressful situation I really would have expected better from her.

It's sickening seeing people praising him and standing up for him. He sounds hideous. The men I've known who've behaved similarly have been utterly cold, callous individuals who think of nothing but their own pleasure

I suppose it's the sort of behaviour he will never be allowed to put behind him, however decently he's conducted himself since.

Nor should he. This is not a one-off indiscretion- it reveals his true character. People like that don't change their ways anyway- my guess is that he has been far from decent in private since Jo died. He is one of those people who thinks that he is entitled to take what he wants- including women.

I don't know why people seem to feel sorry for him. I have worked in a professional capacity for over 10 years now. Never once have I sexually harassed or groped or grabbed co-workers by the throat. It's not hard. It really isn't. This isn't some kind of hardship we are imposing on men, expecting them to respect boundaries and not assault women. It really isn't.

My blood is already boiled this morning because I saw Prof Mary Beard tweet about how we shouldn't judge Oxfam aid workers too harshly because none of us know how we would react if we were placed in an extreme situations. The fuck. I am pretty sure that no matter how unsavoury the conditions, I would not tell desperate people that they could only get help if they had sex with me.

Lucy Powell MP was just on Broadcasting House being an apologist for Brendan Cox. She was praising how he had taken responsibility, done the right thing, blah blah blah.

Very very quick out of the blocks to start laundering his reputation. People have clearly invested a lot into a sex pest and aren't keen to see their investment go down the tubes.

Yet more evidence that left wing men are just as chauvinistic as their right wing counterparts.

Wasn't this supposed to be the reason he didn't stand for Jo's seat, despite being urged to do so? It's not particularly news; it's his standing down from the trust that is news. I suppose it's the sort of behaviour he will never be allowed to put behind him, however decently he's conducted himself since.

The minimisation by some female labour MPs on Twitter is frightening

Yup, have seen a contrast in the tweets from Lucy Powell MP re Toby Young and re Brendan Cox. Toby Young: "there is no hedging here", calling for him to be sacked for his unsavoury tweets. Brendan Cox (who has admitted to physically attacking women): "Good for Brendan Cox- reflecting and taking responsibility for past actions". Is she for real? It's just a joke- none of there people genuinely believe in the #metoo movement if it only applies when the assailant is someone everyone already hates.

The reference to 'past actions' fucks me off too. It was barely 2 years ago ffs and only stopped when he left his job. We're not talking about something that happened when he was 18.