Scotland finance minister inappropriate messages to 16 year old?

[anicebag]

He allegedly sent texts to 16 year old boy saying he was cute and inviting him out to a day out. Is this inappropriate? How would we feel if it was a 16 year old girl? He announces Scotland's new budget today.

It’s not really trial by twitter when you’ve been pestering (grooming) a 16 year old over social media. It’s ‘being yet another nonce in the public eye’

anicebag I wouldn't like to banned on here. But there is a specific deception right at the heart of the SNP... according to gossip.

or peanutbuttermarmite the thrill of getting away with it?

Yes that’s more the thing @yolofish - let’s hope he’s not getting much of of a thrill watching his career slide down the drain.

Wonder if it’s enough to be charged?

Much as I am not a fan of nationalism, being a haven for perverts isn’t specific to them, I couldn’t believe the news about the poor stressed doctor spying on the girl in the shower...

Must be a type of mental health crises experienced by the rich/powerful.

Having read texts. Grooming

Even when the boy ignored him.

Grooming

Technically he hasn't done anything illegal.
Age of consent is 16, they can leave home, make a will, get married without parental consent and even vote in some cases at 16.

Whether it was wise, appropriate or moral is another matter

The boy was 16 - I think it’s super sleazy but it’s not illegal and it’s not grooming. And no way was he ever going to take over as FM any time soon anyway.

@derxa - what do you mean? Relating to politics or personal lives?

Also he resigned as soon as it came out. Not sure how any of it could possibly be Nicola Sturgeons fault

Sleazy but... if 16yo are to young to negotiate this kind of thing, why is the age of consent set at 16? And why are so many people trying to reduce the voting age to 16, for that matter?

One way or the other, please.

Why are some of the MP responses to this so weak?
Scottish Tories Finance Spokesman Murdo Fraser tweeted: "Derek MacKay acted foolishly and is right to resign from the Govt. Politics aside, I have always enjoyed working with him, and he is popular in his own party and across the Parliament.

"I wish him and his family well in what will be a difficult time."

In Scottish Parliament today Jackson Carlaw read out the NSPCC guide to online grooming

The boy was still at school.

This was grooming.

Read the texts. It went on for months. He asked the boy to keep the conversations secret. He told him he was cute. He invited him to dinner and an event

I don’t think there’s much mystery about why he did it: he was infatuated. The loss of his reputation and promising career are the deserved consequences.

It's disgusting and he deserves to be torn to shreds for it. So disappointed to read some MPs say he was merely "foolish".

And very unlikely he got caught the first time?

In what world is it ‘not grooming’?

I guess is you take the view 16 is an adult, then it’s two consenting adults?

16 isn’t an adult, it should all be 18 imo.

Some people are fine with large age and status inequalities.

It’s not two consenting adults though - it’s one adult (47) sending 270 messages to a 16 year old, many of which weren’t even replied to. You can see the transcript online. I’ve read he targeted the 16 year old out of the blue but I don’t know if that’s true or not. They didn’t seem to know each other anyway.

In addition to the grooming it is also a horrific abuse of power. A man in a senior position ... let alone offering to take a boy on government paid for trips.

Also he resigned as soon as it came out. Not sure how any of it could possibly be Nicola Sturgeons fault

Nicola Sturgeon (who I do hugely admire as I said upthread) presides over a party where certain individuals (either directly or indirectly through association) use social media to bully and harass others. She has to know this goes on - it's in plain sight.

twitter.com/JoanMcAlpine/status/1220680246908813312

You can spot the harassers - they have incorporated the target image into their twitter handle.

anicebag I wouldn't like to banned on here. But there is a specific deception right at the heart of the SNP... according to gossip.

and if its the same one I've heard which is pretty prolific in Scotland over the last couple of months and growing only due to social media it is purely gossip with no evidence or justification at all.

Allegedly it has not reported in media due to an injunction, but more likely because it is simply not true. I don't believe it in the slightest, it is just a slur campaign which is being spread by idiots.

@derxa got anything specific or are you just gossipmongering?

In the Me Too world, the imbalance of power between an older adult and under 18 is the problem. It's sleazy. It's praying on the youth and inexperience- it creates an unequal and potentially damaging situation. This is without even being a person in power.

Re the rumours, which are spiteful and shitty and to be discounted. But if it's true- its a bit weird?

Sleeping with an under 16 is illegal for anyone, but an 80-year old can sleep with a 16th birthday boy or girl

Instead of suddenly going overnight from full protection as a child to almost none on their 16th birthday,
we need a legally enforeable age gap limit of say 4 years, to protect the 16-18 age group from much older adults.