Why hasn’t Cameron sacked MSP over his rape comments?

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

As Political Scrapbook has reported, Tory MSP Bill Aitken has now stood down as Convenor of the Justice Committee on the Scottish Parliament after his outrageous reaction to a gang rape in a newspaper interview.

Aitken, who suggested that the rape victim was a prostitute, and laughed having been told some of the details of the attack, came under pressure to resign from groups including Rape Crisis Scotland, who said:

“We believe that it is right to consider whether it is appropriate that someone who holds such unhelpful views on rape is Convenor of our Justice Committee.”

Yet despite the furore – and his resignation from the plum job as Justice Committee Convenor, he still sits as a Tory MSP. Over a week ago, Annabel Goldie, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, refused to condemn Aitken, and David Cameron has been silent on the matter.

Aitken plans to step down in May at the Scottish parliamentary elections, but John McTernan, Political Scrapbook and Lib Dem Voice have rightly asked, why has Cameron not sacked Aitken? Why is he still a member of the Tory Party? Surely the Tories don’t want this man sat in the Scottish Parliament as a representative of theirs in the run up to May’s elections? As long as Aitken sits as an MSP, his presence is an insult to those who have been victims of sexual attacks. As McTernan rightly says, his comments are a “toxic mix of racism and misogyny”.

Cameron should tell Aitken to stand down, before he does any further damage.