SNP accused of 'protectionism' amid claims council boss sexual harassment allegations were ignored

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A former SNP councillor has accused the party of "protectionism" over the case of a disgraced former council boss. Cammie McManus resigned from the Nationalists after raising complaints against Jordan Linden, the ex-leader of North Lanarkshire council.

The councillor today claimed the political culture on the local authority was "toxic" with no way of fixing it. "Speaking to our members, it has been like that for the for the last 15, 20 years," he said. "I think it's just the party's avoidance of dealing with North Lanarkshire, has been most of the issue."I don't think updating a couple of pieces of policy is going to change the situation that myself and others have went through for the last couple of weeks, months and years."Linden, 29, quit the SNP in February after McManus's ­complaint about him was first revealed by the Sunday Mail.

McManus, 25, told of enduring years of ­harassment which started in 2016 when they were both on an SNP Youth trip to Barcelona.Linden has denied the claims but resigned as council leader last July.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, McManus said: "It's not as if these are just new accusations."It's not the first, the first one, it's so it's a sense of protectionism or something over Jordan, obviously, in a wider context as well when it comes to North Lanarkshire the party has always been scared to get involved or intervene.