even by Crispin's standards...

[SigourneyHoward]

Extremely vocal intervention by CB following a jury finding his fellow Conservative Wakefield MP guilty of sexual assault....

twitter.com/CrispinBlunt/status/1513603624164859918

Steerpike and Guido:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/crispin-blunt-s-late-night-blunder

order-order.com/2022/04/12/crispin-blunt-told-not-fit-to-hold-public-office-by-councillor-in-constituency-conservative-association/

It's a shame the news agenda moves on so quickly, with the announcement of the fines he's fallen off the front pages this afternoon. Hopefully his local constituency are up for de-selecting him. He shouldn't get away with it.

I suspect Crispin has taken advice from his brother Oliver Blunt QC. Hence the backtrack.

Everyone can see who he is now.

@ResisterRex

That's a bit below the belt, lark. I'm sure we've all mistakenly posed as washing machine salesmen named Jim, and offered to buy Class As for men we might pay to have sex with. Right?!

Yeah, I suppose it is a bit pallid compared with the 1970s political scandal of Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe who was tried and acquitted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to murder, along with a carpet salesman and a fruit machine salesman. Never let it be said that Vaz's Cambridge law degree hadn't been put to good use.

@Needmoresleep

Worth noting the back story about initial attempts to keep the trial secret, apparently to avoid reputational damage to a serving MP. According to the Mail it took the resources of a couple of newspapers to challenge this in the courts.

The importance of the right to free speech is something that has come up repeatedly through the whole sex and gender debate.

Next time that Parliament and celebrities are keen on state regulation of the press, ask yourself "why?"

A free press is the cornerstone of our democracy.

What is likely to happen with the APPG now then, will the people who resigned in protest be able to rejoin now he's stood down as chair? It would be good to get Joanna Cherry back in! And hopefully a better candidate as the new chair.

I get a sense of middle aged men unravelling.

'Malfunctioning and destroying civilisations', if you will.

*Next time that Parliament and celebrities are keen on state regulation of the press, ask yourself "why?"

A free press is the cornerstone of our democracy.*

This is worth repeating. We've seen it with the use of names and pronouns that have helped (IMO) fuel an idea that female sex offending is on the rise. It does happen. But a rise can't be proved. And a muzzled press is part of a problem we now have to try to solve.

@ahagwearsapointybonnet

What is likely to happen with the APPG now then, will the people who resigned in protest be able to rejoin now he's stood down as chair? It would be good to get Joanna Cherry back in! And hopefully a better candidate as the new chair.

Members can rejoin if they want to. There are some rules about members who are also officers of the group, such as Chair or Deputy or Vice Chairs. For instance they would have to hold an extraordinary general meeting to elect a new Chair. And they would have to update the group's entry in the Register of APPGs which has to give details of the Chair and other officers. They would also have to update the group's own website.

Khan resigned and made a statement (it’s on Twitter).

It’s a terrible miscarriage of justice that has characterised him as a predator and an outcast.

He was convicted of (to quote him) touching someone’s leg through clothes with sexual intent.

Yes, a KID. A child who was trying to go to sleep.

FGS.

I cannot believe that statement. This was a child he'd never met before, who had no interest in him, was trying to get Khan to leave him alone. It must have been terrifying to find an adult drunk man pawing at you with obvious intent, in the middle of the night in your own bedroom. The lack of insight for Khan to be able to cast himself as a victim in this scenario is astonishing.

Unbelievable, isn’t it? Not a scrap of empathy for the child, or regret for his own appalling actions.