The SKWAWKBOX brings you the first look at the formal statement of suspended Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins concerning his interactions with Ava Etemadzadeh, which will be hitting the mainstream media shortly, assuming they choose to use it:
Press Statement of Kelvin Hopkins MP in response to press reports concerning allegations by Ava Etemadzadeh (hereafter ‘Ava’):
1. My first recollection of ever meeting Ava was at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester in September 2014. She was one of approximately 10 party activists who had been present at a fringe reception and who accompanied me and my daughter to an evening meal in Manchester for activists and supporters. She introduced herself as the Chair of Labour Students at Essex University and she joined in the general conversation around the dining table. As I usually do, I let her have my contact details.
2. I next came across Ava when I was canvassing in support of the Labour candidate in the Clacton-on Sea by-election on 9 October 2014. She was one of a number of Labour Party activists who joined me in leafleting and door knocking. I had no prior knowledge at all that Ava would be in Clacton for the by-election. I had a general chat with her about the by-election in the company of the other campaigners.
3. On 11 October 2014 Ava sent me a text message:
“Hi Kelvin, how are you? I was wondering if you would like to come to University of Essex to speak in one of our Labour society socials this term? x Ava”.
4. I then arranged, through the secretary of the student Labour society at Essex University, to speak at Essex on 12 November 2014. I arrived at Colchester mid-afternoon as the social event was due to start at 4.15 pm. I gave my speech to the students. It was a well received talk and involved a lively questions and answers debate with those who were there. After the event, Ava walked me to my car in the car park at the university. There were many people in the general area.
5. The allegation has been made and reported in the press that I “hugged her [Ava] inappropriately” (eg Telegraph newspaper 3 November 2017). Ava is reported to have said, “He hugged me to say goodbye, held me too tight and rubbed his crotch on me, which I found revolting”.
6. I absolutely and categorically deny that I in any way engaged in any such inappropriate conduct. I simply put an arm around her shoulder to give her a brief slight hug just before getting in to my car. I did not hold her tight. I did not rub any part of my body, let alone my crotch, against Ava. She waved me off as I drove away and did not say anything whatsoever to suggest that anything had occurred that upset her let alone revolted her. In fact after I left the University, Ava sent me a text message during the same evening of 12 November timed at 9 pm saying:
“Thank you so much Kelvin for coming tonight!! We had a fantastic time. My members loved you! 🙂 You’re a star! x Ava”
7. On 15 December 2014 Ava sent me a text message:
“Hi Kelvin, how are you? Could you please send me your post address? I’d like to send you a Christmas card. x Ava”.
8. I gave her my address as House of Commons, Westminster London SW1A 0AA. Her card arrived on 17 December.
9. When I had visited Essex University I had made an invite to the students to visit the House of Commons. I often take groups and individuals on tours of the Palace of Westminster and often dine with my guests in the House. Arrangements were made for a group of about 8 students to come to Westminster early in 2015. I believe the group trip was cancelled but Ava still wanted to visit and came to Westminster on 2 February 2015. It is reported in the press that at that meeting I asked questions about her personal life and that I made her uncomfortable with a suggestion that I would have liked to take her to my office if it were empty. I have no recollection whatsoever of such conversations. I recall the meeting lasting about 2 hours including dining in the Strangers Dining Room which was buzzing with very many other parliamentarians and their guests also having lunch. Shortly after leaving Westminster Ava sent me the following text message on 2 February at 14:50:
“Thank you, Kelvin for today. It was lovely meeting you! 🙂 xx”
10. On 16 February 2015 I did send a text message to Ava which included the reported words saying Ava was “charming and sweet natured” and that “a nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover…Were I to be young…but I am not…”. She in fact replied to my text on the same day:
“Oh thank you Kelvin for such kind words. I was ill last week for a couple of days and also I had run for NUS delegate – they announced the results and I got elected with the highest number of votes!! So sorry if I couldn’t speak to you last week x”
11. My only contact with Ava since then was about a year ago when she made contact with me to discuss working in Westminster. She told me that she had applied for a job with a Labour MP and that although she had been shortlisted to the final 2 for the job she nevertheless did not get it. She wanted my advice on how she could possibly have done better. I called her from parliament and advised her that jobs with MPs are difficult to get and I told her for example that my office had no vacancies. I advised her that she should also think about working as a member of staff of the House of Commons and should think about the civil service. I also suggested that as she is bi-lingual (Ava is fluent in Farsi) she could also think about working with the Foreign Office. Our conversation was friendly.
12. I have had no contact with Ava since then and was shocked when I saw the allegations appear online last night and in the papers today. I have always wished and still do wish, Ava the very best of luck in pursuing the career in politics that she wants to follow. I am happy to fully cooperate with the Labour Party to bring to a swift conclusion the investigation that is now being carried out into my conduct.
Press Enquiries:
Martin Howe (Senior Partner) partners@howe.co.uk
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Open and shut case, from a Daily Mail point of view! Guilty!
BBC Radio News has had as their main story all day how ‘Corbyn’ knew about the suggestion that something may have occurred yet still gave him a promotion, whilst at the same time they have failed to mention in any of their news broadcasts even one of the thirty six Tory MP’s that have had allegations made against them.
Their bias on this matter is so extreme it has actually shocked me . . .
The SKWAWKBOX brings you the first look at the formal statement of suspended Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins concerning his interactions with Ava Etemadzadeh, which will be hitting the mainstream media shortly, assuming they choose to use it:
That last sentence is the all-important one.
Will they (Yes, I’m pointing at kuenssberg, robinson, et al) see this as ‘soiled goods’ , seeing as you had the scoop on them? We know what they think of independent media (Left wing, that is) and how it distracts people from their own, genuine ‘impartiality’ (stop laughing)
Or will they just not bother?
Either way, a lot of people have already made their minds up anyway.
I see they didn’t bother, then…?
Nah, thought not – It’d be too ‘Corbynista’ of them to have done so. Still, my inclination is that Kelvin’ll be cleared, but the MSM will have none of it because it won’t suit; just like it didn’t to have published the statement.
It’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it, that these allegations should have been made public almost immediately after the Foreign Secretary resigned; the questions in Parliament to Mrs May about her not taking action whilst Home Secretary on alleged sexual assaults, etc., by Tory MP’s; and many Tory MPs criticising May’s leadership openly. Methinks I smell a Blairite rat at work here!!
I just seen the complainant on ch4 news,,,,I don’t know what’d make anyone giggle while they’re making sexual assault allegations.
Lots of people giggle when they’re nervous, even (especially?) when their situation is nothing to laugh about.
Sounds genuine to me..
Ruth Appleton.
________________________________
it sounds ok, until the text, the text was way too inappropriate, and it casts doubt on everything else. :-(.
You have a rather vivid imagination
It is rather odd that although Mr Hopkins denial is headlined on several news websites with a few selective highlights (in some cases) non of them have reproduced his statement in full. Why not?
UNLESS OTHERS FEMALES COME FORWARD WITH SIMILAR ACCUSATIONS, CASE CLOSED!
SHE SAID HE SAID!
LIES WILL BE THE RUIN OF ONE OF EM!
I KNOW WHO MY MONIES ON!
Given her allegations of what took place on 12 November 2014 it is difficult to understand her continuing contact for the next 2 years. Did she complain about his text message before, or afte,r she wrote to him seeking ‘careers advice’
The young woman complained in Dec 2015, which was about the same time as the PLP were upping the anti towards Jeremy Corbyn and Corbyn supporters. For example, on 3rd December 2015, Michael Dugher and Gavin Shuker joined Hilary Benn in voting against Corbyn, and in favour of bombing in Syria. The young woman did 3m holiday internships with Gavin Shuker in 2013 and with Michael Dugher in 2014.
Kelvin Hopkins was told of the complaint at the end of December 2015.
‘Careers advice’ was sought in Autumn 2016. Extraordinary that she should do so after complaining about his text. Furthermore, she had not alleged any inappropriate hugging or conversations at that point
.
Thanks for clarrifying the timeline.
Which also begs the question is either Michael Dugher and Gavin Shuker encouraged this young lady to embellish her allagations in any way what happened to their duty of care to her.
Note, by the way, that Shuker and Hopkins are both Luton MPs; I’d be interested to see informed comment on how the Boundary Commission proposals impact their seats, and hence the selection process for the new constituencies.
If the texts match up that young woman’s going to have some explaining to do. Normally I’d give the person claiming abuse the benefit of any doubt but ambitious wannabe politicos might have to be treated as an exception.
BBC unbelievably but predictably referred to the 30-odd Tories as “several.”
Nothing yet about this, too busy throwing mud at Jeremy.
Reblogged this on Hercules space.
I’m a woman – I think that needs to be said – and I believe Kelvin Hopkins.
Furthermore, the whole brouhaha concerning sexual abuse of young women and occasionally young men, is now completely out of control. Some of the allegations are utterly ridiculous. One man touched a woman on her shoulder, and another touched one on her knee. Sexual harassment? I think not!
Sexual harassment is a very real problem wherever it takes place and it needs to be taken seriously. The current crop of allegations does no favour to women or to men. All it does is portray men as abusers and women as victims.
I also noticed the way that Radio 4 and BBC TV news skewed the whole discussion in order to further heap opprobrium on Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
While obviously being cautious not to diminish any possible offence, the timing of this assertion – and that of Bex, has the same characteristics as many blue labour plots of recent times. Members of Progress (Bex at least, as well as Liz Kendall acolyte, self publicist and evident careerist) and Labour Students (cf recent articles on their shenanigans: https://www.leftfutures.org/2013/06/young-labour-chiefs-simon-darvill-and-bex-bailey-vote-against-their-own-committments/). Ava’s tweets are informative – retweeting Blair, Dugher, Streeting, Rentoul, Campbell, etc, etc… corbynout. As is usual, when things are dire for the Tories, up pop some anticorbynites to take the heat off and give MSM their alternate narrative. Almost as if coordinated with whoever is running the Conservative coup?
“She told me that she had applied for a job with a Labour MP and that although she had been shortlisted to the final 2 for the job she nevertheless did not get it. She wanted my advice on how she could possibly have done better” ………..
Or in other word “Give-us a job”
Indeed body language is a good indication of genuine posture – not sure that giggling over unwarranted sexual attention is really convincing compare this to victims of sexual abuse breaking down under interview. There again she seeks a career in politics. Need I say more ?
Very odd that she would want to even see him again if he rubbed himself against her in a revolting way as she said.
have met Kelvin in Luton on a sunny day was last year or last summer time , was with his I presume wife walking through a park , said hello shook his hand after friend told me he supports JC seriously the guys like a pensioner think he had walking stick or was bent over a bit , dont think think he could proposition a bar in a pub let alone a skimpy female what on earth is she on about ?
Ms Etemadzadeh’s LinkedIn page is also of interest https://www.linkedin.com/in/etemadzadeh-ava-8a7449109/
Very informative Julian re the linkedin page where she mentions clearly her Internship with Michael Dugher MP. Now we all know just what a great Corbyn supporter he is !
One just wonders if this is yet another Blairite coup in the making to yet again undermine Corbyn . Link this with the latest attack on Clive lewis and the odds just start to stack up of an organised attack from within the LP .
and of course the media are SO close to the plotters that they will be only too happy to splash each accusation across the front pages. Thus an uncorroborated claim of ‘hugging me too tight’ gets as much coverage as the resignation of the defense minister!
Much more coverage, in fact
The Li Page is certainly interesting. She seems to be a good Blair supporter and listing heavily to Starboard.
Linked to Jasmine Becket too, and reading this article about that little madam, things click into place quite readily. Is this to be the beginning of a big Blairite push to discredit Corbyn?
If that proves to be the case the perpetrators should be expelled for life
Ms Etemadzadeh certainly keeps interesting company: http://parliamentstreet.org/about/researchcouncil/
More about her colleague Clare George-Hilley is here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/former-tory-councillor-says-dumb-people-shouldnt-be-able-to-vote-after-labour-takes-her-old-seat-in-9447419.html
Unless you really think that the current Weinstein/Westminster harassment scandal is a deep Progress plot then you can’t disbelieve the current allegations against Kelvin Hopkins. Something happened at the meeting between Hopkins and Etemadzadeh which disturbed Etemadzadeh enough that she raised a complaint with an unnamed Labour MP and the then Opposition Chief Whip. There is no conspiracy-theory reason of political motives that hold any water whatsoever.
It’s possible that Hopkins is telling his truth that he didn’t think he did anything wrong, but there’s no reason to text a junior colleague with “a nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover…Were I to be young…but I am not…”. Hopkins should be aware of the power dynamics of being an older male in a position of power and conducted himself accordingly.
We are meant to be a feminist party and must not go down the route of disbelieving our comrades’ stories of sexual harassment because we like the politics of the one being complained about. The initial “investigation” seems to be have been half-hearted and Bex Bailey’s rape allegation wasn’t even investigated. Whatever the Labour Party did in the past cannot be changed but from right now, the Party should have no place for sexual harassers.
Andy, there are facts of which you’re plainly unaware. Hope to release more soon. The allegation should be taken seriously – as it has been – and properly investigated. But jumping to conclusions of guilt – in relation to the allegations or to the initial allegation – is inappropriate and ill-advised.
I believe Kevin, she has some nerve, trying to destroy a man’s reputation. Just looking for attentsion. I hope she does not gain anything from this.
I support women coming forward to report abuse but this is suspicious. The bit that stood out for me from her BBC interview was that she said she had been ‘working with The Telegraph’ for two weeks on the story before it broke. Why the Telegraph and why did she need to prepare for so long with them?
Her Linked In page states that she, ” Couched members interested in NUS, Young Labour and Labour Students positions.” Couched or Coached? Hmmmmm?
1. How to it possible for a man to rub a young woman with his lower body (or crotch) at the same time that he is supposed to be hugging her tightly with his upper body?
2. If you find a man’s presence objectionable, why would you go back to see him in order to have a conversation?
3. If you are still a supporter of the Labour Party why would you :
a) Work with the Daily Telegraph?
b) Use your interview on the BBC with John Pienaar to criticise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership?
4) If most of Corbyn’s front bench had resigned, why wouldn’t the Labour leader offer a job to a man who had received a verbal reprimand by the Chief whip for something he might not have done?
He sent a student who booked him for a speaking appointment a text which said “a nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover…Were I to be young…but I am not…”
By his own admission.
That’s just weird and creepy.
Which she complained about and for which he was admonished. She then over a year after her original complaint was settled to the satisfaction of all parties chose, for reasons best known to herself, to complain about an incident that allegedly occurred prior to the text her original complaint was about. Why?
I have no idea what her motivation is in all this and as the victim I’d say it’s pretty irrelevant.
All I know is that he admitted sending a text message to someone that makes him seem at best unprofessional at worst creepy.
The full text is reported in the Metro http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/03/suspended-mp-absolutely-and-categorically-denies-sexually-harassing-activist-7052585/
My son in law says that it reads like a ‘letting down gently’ text.
syzgysue: Thanks for the link. It’s interesting to note that The Metro published Kelvin’s account of it all in full. THAT is probably a lot more than The Mail or The Express or The Sun did (which I’m going to check out shortly), but even if said Tory propaganda rags didn’t include Kelvin’s account of it all, they would undoubtedly have seen it. And my point is this: Once anyone has read his account of it all, you couldn’t help but conclude that it doesn’t make sense that Ava whatsit would send him texts saying what she says if he really HAD done what she claims he did. And yet ALL these newspapers AND TV news run with it, and as far as I’m aware, not a single one of them have questioned her about the texts she sent him not fitting with her story one iota, and being completely at odds with it.
Anyway, I came across the following just prior to typing this out:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/video/uknews/ava-etemadzadeh-discusses-the-sexual-harassment-she-faced-from-labour-mp-kelvin-hopkins/
Note the expression on her face as it finishes.
Here’s how The Sun reported it….. and NO, they haven’t included a single bean from Kelvin’s account of it all. And note the picture of HER, and the contrast between how she looks in the photo and how she looked in her interview (I noticed when I just went back to it after posting my comment it says BBC at the bottom, and is evidently a clip from an interview she gave…… ah, was that whatshername on BBC2 weekday mornings from 9.00am ’til 11.00am?). I bet she wasn’t wearing the former outfit on the occasions she met Kelvin (and probably bought it especially for the television interview!) Anyway, here’s The Sun article:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4830815/kelvin-hopkins-labour-mp-suspended-allegations-westminster-sex-scandal/
PS Which particular email was your son-in-law referring to just out of interest?
While I so believe Kelvin didn’t rub his crotch on her…as a woman and a victim of sexual harassment on a daily basis in my last job. (Though obviously not by Kelvin!!) ..the text he sent her about were he younger ect was not appropriate. I was bombarded with texts from my harrassor and really it’s not nice. Even today I’m nervous to look at texts and I’ve installed blocking and security on my phone.
katrehman: In your post you very much imply that Kelvin Hopkins “bombarded” Ava Etemadzadeh with texts. Why? You obviously read the above article, right, which mainly comprises of Kelvin’s response AND, of course, completely blows HER version of events right out of the water. Or do you believe that she could send him a text just a few hours after he (supposedly) rubbed his crotch against her – which she found “revolting” – telling him he’s “a star” etc, and giving him a “x”? He did NOT bombard her with texts as you well know, so why make such a comparison?
And perhaps you’d like to remind us what she said in the text she sent him in response to the text you refer to.
It’s very hard to make a judgement without the full facts, and one of course naturally shies away from victim blaming.
She MIGHT conceivably be being used by the Progress/Labour First tendency of the party. Jess Phillips lost no time whatsoever in laying the blame at Corbyn’s door, which could be the real agenda.
I am not a fan of Hopkins and his rather repugnant views on the EU, but there’s something of odd whiff about this allegation. The only dodgy thing I can see from his statement is when he said he texted her and said “[a] nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover…Were I to be young…but I am not…” which is utterly cringeworthy and perhaps worthy of a reprimand, but possibly not a hanging offence. As another contributor states – given her allegations of what took place on 12 November 2014, it is difficult to understand her continuing contact for the next 2 years. Did she complain about his text message before, or after she wrote to him seeking ‘careers advice’?
Corbyn has done the right thing, and I have every confidence that an investigation will extract the truth and decide either way.
Radio 4 and Sky News have also skewed the whole discussion in order to heap opprobrium on Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
Funny, that.
Ric: You are overlooking one key thing – ie what she said in the text she sent HIM in response to the text he sent HER where he says the things you refer to. She didn’t find it “cringeworthy”, or have any problem at ALL with it……. The complete opposite in fact. And yet she at some point afterwards made a complaint about it. Does THAT make any sense? And does it make any sense that she would send him a text just a few hours after he (supposedly) rubbbed his crotch against her – which she found “revolting” – telling him he’s “a star” etc and giving him a “x”. And yet you start your post by saying: “It’s very hard to make a judgement without the full facts”. The reality is that we have ALL the facts we need to make a judgement….. Kelvin was set up (for the obvious reasons). End of story.
Agreed?
Seriously? Is this what we’re doing now? Sitting in judgement on a potential abuse victim? Nobody knows why women continue to make contact with their abusers, but some do. Particularly in a professional settng where their career depends on power relationships. Please try to remember you’re not tories, and that you are supposed to support women who report sexual abuse, instead of calling them liars.
You appear to be responding to the article rather than to someone else’s comment. The article does not sit in judgment on anyone. It reports an MP’s statement, which includes pertinent evidence – the investigation will decide the right and wrong of the matter.
The alleged victim should be supported as one – but that does not mean uncritical acceptance of the claim. It may – or may not – be accurate and people should hear all the evidence.
I don’t think any of the comments here indicate a judgement, let alone one of lying. What contributors are trying to understand is the possible relationship between the claims of the two parties.
” Nobody knows why women continue to make contact with their abusers, but some do.”
Could you give us some examples Catherine.
If someone rubbed their crotch against you, would you continue to have any contact with that person?
And would you then send that person a text later that same day thanking them (for whatever) and telling them they are “a star” and gave him a “x”?
The answer is of course a gargantuan-size NO. And nor would any other woman. YOU know it, and I know it, and EVERYBODY else knows it.
My apologies for demolishing your feeble attempt to defend and justify her totally implausible ‘behaviour’ (just a few hours later), and your attack – your feigned and phoney ‘outrage’, that is – on those on this page who have pointed out the glaringly obvious disparities and, as such, expressed their skepticism and incredulity.
Just as well Kelvin keeps his texts eh?
PS I just want to quickly rephrase something – ie one of the questions I put to you Catherine:
If someone rubbed their crotch against you – which you found REVOLTING – would you continue to have any contact with that person (and send them a text a few hours later tellng them they’re “a star” and giving them a “x”)?
And here are a few more questions for you Catherine:
Would you text the person who did such a “revolting” thing a month later and ask them for their address so that you could send them a Chistmas card, and sign off with an “x”? AND then send them a card?
Would you go to the Palace of Westminster some six weeks later (after sending the Christmas card) to specifically meet up with the person who had rubbed their crutch against you – which you found “revolting” – a couple of months before?
Would you send a text shortly after spending a couple of hours with that person during which time they asked you questions about your personal life and made you feel uncomfortable and suggested that they would have liked to take you to their office had it been empty, would you then send them a text saying: ‘Thank you for today. It was lovely meeting you! 🙂 xx’?
Need I go on?
No, of course not, but I WILL anyway:
If you received a text from this person a couple of weeks after they had asked you questions about your personal life and, as such, made you feel uncomfortable, AND suggested they’d like to to get you alone in their office, would you respond shortly after receiving that text, and text them and say the following: ‘Oh thank you for such kind words. I was ill last week… (then tell them all about something, and finish by saying) So sorry if I couldn’t speak to you last week x’?
Would you (some twenty months after the meeting where they had made you feel uncomfortable and suggested they’d like to get you alone in their office) phone that person up and tell them all about your situation and ask them for advice, or even have thought to do so in the first place?
Have I made my point Catherine? It is of course not just improbable that someone would have done the things she did in such circumstances, it is of course inconceivable and way beyond the realms of plausibility.
Agreed?
I just happened to come back to this thread (some 18 months later) and – on reading Catherine’s comment again – realised that her central point was spurious AND bogus. First she says “Nobody knows why women continue to make contact with their abusers”, and then, in the very next sentence, offers an explanation for why she – Ava Etemadzadeh – DID – ie that some women do, particularly in a professional setting “where their career depends on power relationships”. Well in the first place there was no “professional setting” between Ava Etemadzadeh and Kelvin Hopkins in which her career depended on a “power relationship”; she was at university studying whatever, and in the second place there was no career, and the reality is that she had no relationship with him at all.
Funny, isn’t it, that she then waited three years before saying anything about it AND then decides to go to the Telegraph and have it splashed all over the MSM, and then dresses up in a school-girl type uniform and changes her hair-style for her TV news interviews so that she looks all puritanical and like an innocent little thing, in stark contrast to how she normally looks. Oh, right, and Jeremy Corbyn just happened to now be the leader of the Labour Party!
And the fact that the Telegraph and most of the rest of the MSM DIDN’T say a dickybird about the statement Kelvin made tells you ALL you need to know about what their agenda was.
Exactly… there was no power relation between Kelvin Hopkins and the young woman. However, she has a history of association with those within the LP opposing Jeremy Corbyn and her career advancement might be thought more likely to come from that quarter. Kelvin Hopkins has been suspended fo over 18 months and will be ineligible to stand fo the LP if a GE is called. During that period, there has been a continuing stream of articles and online which implicitly assume the MP’s guilt. This trashing of 20 years of public service as a MP, of a good reputation and mental health, seems totally disproportionate to the alleged offence which was unwitnessed and simply say so.
I just read through Kelvin’s statement again and I noticed something that has passed me by prior to now, and that is the fact that in the text where she asks him about giving a talk, she finishes with a “x”:
“Hi Kelvin, how are you? I was wondering if you would like to come to University of Essex to speak in one of our Labour society socials this term? x Ava”.
Given that she’d only met him twice before – and was presumably the first time she had ever sent him a text – it seems rather over-familiar, to say the least.
And the other thing that occured to me is that in his statement, Kelvin doesn’t mention that he was reprimanded (by Rosie Winterton, the Chief Whip) after Ava E reported him for supposedly asking her personal questions and saying, in effect, that he’d have liked to get her alone in his office.
And one more thing (that crossed my mind a couple of days ago): It does seem very strange that this “group of about eight students” who had made arrangements to come to Westminster etc should cancel their trip, and only Ava go. I mean if you wanted to set someone up, it would appear, in hindsight, that if she arranged to go on her own (and THIS is putting to one side the ‘crotch-rubbing’ allegation) it would strike some as a bit suspect, but if you tell Kelvin there’s a bunch of people coming……. Did she offer an explanation (to Kelvin) for why they all cancelled; and if she didn’t, surely Kelvin would have asked her why out of curiousity at some point. The point being of course that if there had been seven or eight other people there, then……
And I find it very odd indeed that she wanted to make a complaint but was unwilling to give her name, and so couldn’t, as such, but then contacted an MP – who she obviously gave her name to – who then spoke to Rosie Winterton about it etc, etc. How could anyone have thought they could make such an allegation and yet NOT have to give their name. It’s absurd beyond words of course, and inconceivable, like so much else in this story.
If I were a journalist – or the editor of a newspaper – here are a list of questions I would want to ask Ava Etemadzadeh:
1. Why did you NOT report the crotch rubbing incident after it happened to the NEC?
2. Why did you send KH the text you sent him just a couple of hours or so after it (supposedly) happened?
3. Why did you text him a couple of weeks later to ask for an address to send him a Christmas card to, and then send him one, given the claim you have since made that he rubbed his crotch against you?
4. Why did you make an arrangement to go to Westminster to meet up with the person you claim did such a thing, and then go?
5. Who were the other people and why did they cancel the trip to Westminster?
6. Why did you send KH the text you sent him shortly after leaving Westminster if, as you claim, KH asked you personal questions and said to you that he would liked to have taken you to his office had it been empty?
7. When you reported KH about what you claim happened when you were at Westminster to this MP, why didn’t you also mention the crotch rubbing incident you claim happened when he came to your university?
8. Why did you contact KH some twenty months later to ask for his advice about finding work if, as you claim, he had held you tight and rubbed his crotch against you on one occasion, and then asked you personal questions and said that he would like to to take you to his office had it been empty on another occasion (the latter of which you then reported him for)?
If I were Kelvin, I would sue her for defamation of character and have all these questions and more put to her in a court of law. And then start sueing all the newspapers etc for the same.