Gloria De Piero writes to Cameron over Tory MP’s dubious use of Twitter

In recent days Lincoln Tory MP Karl McCartney can come under fire for his questionable use of Twitter. In particular, his behaviour has been catalogued by our friends at Political Scrapbook. First he joked with a colleague who compared Labour PPC Lucy Rigby and other Labour candidates to lingerie models. Then the councillor who made the jokes apologised but McCartney stayed silent. Then to top it off, he retweeted a post implying that people should be “grateful” for the sexist attack.

In response, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Gloria De Piero has written to David Cameron, asking him for his opinion of McCartney’s behaviour:

The Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP

10 Downing Street

London

SW1A 2AA

 25^th March, 2014

Dear Prime Minister,

You will no doubt be aware of the conduct on social media of one of your Party’s MPs, Karl McCartney, towards the Labour Party’s Parliamentary candidate for Lincoln, Lucy Rigby.

On Sunday, Richard Davies, a Conservative councillor, used Twitter to compare the selection of Lucy Rigby by an All-Woman Shortlist to a picture of a group of glamour models posing in their underwear. Faced with complaints, local MP Mr McCartney did nothing to distance himself from Cllr Davies’ comments, but instead suggested that “those with sense of humour will appreciate” and that complainants needed to “get over themselves”.

I have to ask whether, as Leader of the Conservative Party, you believe there is any place in our politics, or indeed in our public life, for the attitude displayed by one of your MPs. 

I am proud of the leadership my Party has shown in the use of All-Women Shortlists to increase the number of women in Parliament. However, much more needs to be done to open up our politics and I would suggest that simply accepting the stance taken by  Richard Davies and Karl McCartney undermines those efforts.

I note that Mr Davies has subsequently apologised for his comment, but have seen nothing to suggest that Mr McCartney has either apologised for or explained his own intervention. 

I look forward to your response on this matter. 

Gloria De Piero MP

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities