George Galloway thinks sexual harassment allegations are just political point scoring

[UnderHisEyeBall]

If we were ever in any doubt that Galloway was still a dick head, I present to you:

twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/1178596337283141633?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Reads: If only #CharlotteEdwardes had told us before now of #BorisJohnson hunnish behaviour towards her 20 years ago when he sexually assaulted her in 1999. It could have saved us all from a lot of trouble. She could have used her columns in the Johnson-fanatic Evening Standard to do so

I've never had any doubt that George Galloway is a revolting misogynist.

Never.

Liz truss was interviewed on radio 1 earlier - they give her a hard time over it , she struggled to wriggle out of the questioning.

George Galloway is a class A dick. It annoys me that these people's opinions seem to count. And Johnson is a vile philandering misogynist - the man was married with children. It seems anything goes at the moment and it's okay for the prime minister to be a sexual predator.

I think Charlotte Edwardes tweets got such awful replies that male journalists were commenting on how appalling they were (the replies, not her tweets).

Shoot me now, but an articulate woman in a reasonably privileged position waited til now to disclose this?

I don't buy it either. It might have happened, sure, but 20 years ago and now is the time?

It gives the Me Too movement a bad name.

Political point scoring in a time when UK is divided as fuck.

Is anyone surprised that Galloway is an arsehole who thinks sexual harassment is a myth, like Nessie, and women just love being creeped on?

Galloway is a fetid turd, always has been and always will be.

Johnson has got away with bad behaviour for far too long due to his sex, his Class, his position as a journalist which coupled with the previous two led to a certain indulgence and his carefully crafted persona.

Men believing women as a result of #MeToo didn't last very long

@Yeahnahyeah

exactly my thoughts

I think it's political too. Sorry.

On one level it maybe political. Or it way be that because BJ is now PM that people are out fishing for info about this back ground.

But it could equally be that because it is only now that the media is starting to challenge to Boris bubble that they have been part of inflating that she felt able to say it to colleagues who in the past would have brushed her off with some comment such as, oh that's just Boris we all now what a naughty boy he is. But we love him because he is one our ours (ie an unscrupulous hack).

@Yeahnahyeah

Agree with you too.

Men believing women as a result of #MeToo didn't last very long

Because the #metoo has been abused.

As a woman I also don't believe some women plus their motives.

I agree with stumbledin

I can't get hung up about a twenty year old thigh squeeze either. Its a hair's breadth away from putting a hand on someone's knee. I've wondered if this was a ploy by his own publicity to draw attention away from the more serious accusation that he stuffed tens of thousands of pounds to his alleged lover in the IT sector. Can you imagine if any of us misdirected tens of thousands of pounds from public funds into the pockets of our friends and family?

The timing may well be political but has no bearing on whether the story is true or not.

My hunch is that everyone, including Galloway, thinks it's true. It's just that people like Galloway and co don't think it matters very much - that's just how you treat women. Toby Young (a Johnson ally) said that back in 1999 "people" (by which I assume he meant "women") were upset if Boris didn't touch their leg.

Notice that none of Johnson's defenders has said: "Mr Johnson is a person of integrity who would never squeeze a woman's thigh." They don't say that because the one thing that is absolutely, definitively out in the open about Boris Johnson is that he's a womaniser. Does anyone imagine that those numerous affairs he conducted while married began with him politely asking a woman out on a date? My guess is that he takes the scattergun approach - squeeze the thighs of 20 women and one of them will be up for it. Even Amber Rudd, quite a few years ago, made the comment about not wanting to get in a taxi with him after a party.

I can't get hung up about a twenty year old thigh squeeze either. Its a hair's breadth away from putting a hand on someone's knee.

Sorry what does that mean? Is putting a hand on someone's knee OK?

I don't think it matters if it happened 20 years ago or yesterday, 20 years ago was 1999 and sexual harassment had been a recognised phenomenon for at least 25 years. Men were already complaining then, that they didn't know how they were supposed to work with women if they couldn't just touch them on or near their genitals whenever they felt like it, or proposition them as part of their working day.

The decision to speak out about it now, may or may not be political, but the idea that just because it happened 20 years ago, it was OK then, is wrong. Men knew then, that squeezing a woman's thigh was defined as sexual harassment.

Also what's disturbing is that very few people have said they just can't imagine Boris Johnson doing something like that. No one's very surprised by the allegation. But as with Trump, it just doesn't seem to matter.

In 1999 I'd certainly have been pissed off if my boss had been squeezing my thigh. It's not like we just collectively decided that bosses should keep their hands to themselves in the past few years.

Kind of amazed to see so many people taking the Me Too has gone too far line here tbh - was she supposed to have kept quiet for the sake of England? Waited until after Brexit?

Shoot me now, but an articulate woman in a reasonably privileged position waited til now to disclose this? I don't buy it either. It might have happened, sure, but 20 years ago and now is the time?

I feel bad about it, but I was thinking this too. She was a journalist, for God's sake. She had a platform to make this known. Johnson has been in the public eye for the last 20 years,. And now is the best time to reveal this??

An official complaint from scum has been upheld and we can no longer compare it to George Galloway.

His documented comments on Naz Shah are all you need to know.

She is making an allegation that she was assaulted by BJ. Possible sexual assault.

She is not afraid of public knowing about it so why not report it to police and make it formal instead of making it look like political point scoring.

However if not sexual assault can be proved then the boat has floated for a common assault (if it even reaches that ! )

I realise that many people don't disclose abuse or rape they suffered for years. I know that. But this was a leg squeeze... Not the same thing.

I'm just questioning why she waited until now, a month before Brexit.

Edwardes' partner is Robert Peston, who is close to Remainder Amber Rudd's brother Roland.

Cynical timing? And if it is, then she's undermining the experiences of all women who are sexually harassed and abused and have no voice to or confidence to speak out about their abuse. And that's just not fair.

Cynical timing? And if it is, then she's undermining the experiences of all women who are sexually harassed and abused and have no voice to or confidence to speak out about their abuse. And that's just not fair.

Agree

I'm just questioning why she waited until now, a month before Brexit.

What's the argument here? You're not saying she made it up, are you? You're saying that it happened, but she's waited until a politically expedient time to reveal it. To which I can only say: so what?

If you're a man who goes around squeezing women's thighs, then at some point that will come out and be used against you. Just as it's been used against Boris that he had numerous affairs while still married, usually with younger women. Or that he pressurised Petronella Wyatt into aborting his baby. Or that while married to his second wife he fathered an illegitimate child and tried to cover it up.

Seriously, I don't see that "she waited until it was convenient" can be used as an argument for the defence.

Agree with Yeahnahyeah and bookwormsforever.