A British government minister on Saturday resigned over allegations that bullying by a party activist he appointed was a key factor in the suicide of another young activist.
Grant Shapps, former British minister of state for international development and a former Conservative party chairman, had last year appointed Mark Clarke as a youth campaign organizer.
Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old former writer for a Conservative party blog, alleged he had been bullied by Clarke in a suicide note found after he had killed himself by lying down in front of a train in September.
Photo: Reuters
Clarke, who was expelled from the party, denies any wrongdoing.
In a resignation letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Shapps said that although no written allegations were made against Clarke’s conduct in the past, “the steady stream of those who raised smaller, more nuanced, objections should have perhaps set alarm bells ringing sooner.”
“Given the very serious nature of what has subsequently occurred and my role in appointing Mr Clarke, I cannot help but conclude that the only right course of action is for me to step down as a minister in your government,” Shapps said.
Cameron accepted Shapps’ resignation and praised his work for the party, adding that he has “much more to give in the years ahead.”
According to an investigation by the Guardian newspaper, Johnson had written a formal letter of complaint to the Conservative Party, alleging Clarke had publicly pinned him in his chair, shouted abuse at him and threatened to “squash him like an ant.”
Speaking to the newspaper, Johnson’s father, Ray Johnson, responded to Shapps’ resignation.
“It’s about time, he should have resigned several weeks ago. It’s typical of these politicians, they cling on to the greasy pole for as long as they can,” Ray Johnson said.
Shapps has been replaced by Nick Hurd as minister for international development.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS