DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson quits after sex offence charges

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson resigns as Democratic Unionist Party leader after sex offence charges

In an abrupt move that will jolt the decrepit establishments of Britain and Ireland, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has tendered his resignation as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. The Lagan Valley MP’s departure comes amid sordid allegations of historical sexual offences, for which he has been charged alongside a 57-year-old woman accused of aiding and abetting.

The DUP, that redoubt of reactionary unionism, has seen fit to suspend Donaldson from membership pending the grimy judicial process. In a naked display of musical chairs among the discredited, they have elevated Gavin Robinson MP as their interim ringmaster while the stench of scandal lingers.

It comes after Police issued a statement on Friday morning, however, they did not disclose the identity of those charged.

The statement said a 61-year-old man had been charged with “non-recent sexual offences” adding that a 57-year-old woman was also arrested at the same time and charged with “aiding and abetting additional offences”.

The statement also confirmed the pair would appear before Newry Magistrates’ Court on 24 April.

It is understood DUP officers met on Friday morning after details of the charges emerged.

Sir Jeffrey’s social media accounts, including on X, were deleted overnight.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was elected leader of the DUP in 2021. He is also the longest serving MP in Northern Ireland having been first elected to Parliament in 1997.

Sir Jeffrey was first elected to parliament in 1997 as a representative of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

In 2003, following long-standing opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and the leadership of David Trimble, he announced he would leave the UUP, later joining the DUP.

He was awarded a knighthood in 2016 for political service.

Political Sex Scandals Across Parties: From Tories to Labour to SNP

Yet this is merely the latest debacle to besmirch the decaying edifice of British politics. Even as Donaldson’s tenure implodes, two Tory MPs in Westminster remain on police bail, accused of rape, yet sanctioned by their local parties to contest the next general election. It beggars belief that such individuals are entrusted with sculpting the laws and societal norms that govern us all.

You can scarcely feign surprise at this unfolding grotesquery. Our political arenas, irrespective of party or nation, have become invested with the most corrupt and perverse of actors. From the hallowed ranks of Parliament to the shambolic devolved legislatures, a pungent miasma of impropriety and indecency hangs heavy, its contamination spreads across the pantheon of Parties from the Tories, to Labour, the Scottish Nationalists to the DUP.

Perverted Parliamentarians: Roll Call of Accused or Convicted MPs

A question arises when we ask, are we surprised by the latest scandalous gossip swirling around our Parliaments? Hardly. These places have become little better than a tax-payer-funded brothel for dissolute MPs to indulge their sordid appetites.

The roll call of Tory reprobates hauled before the courts reads like a pervert’s Almanac. From gropers and flashers to rapists and stalkers, a parade of pathetic miscreants has sullied the party’s name. Not that Labour’s po-faced Puritans fare much better when their own tawdry secrets surface.

Some of the Accused or Convicted Conservative MPs:

1. Charlie Elphicke: Former MP for Dover, convicted in 2020 of three counts of sexual assault against two women.
2. Imran Ahmad Khan: Former MP for Wakefield, convicted in 2022 of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
3. Neil Parish: MP for Tiverton and Honiton, admitted to watching porn in the House of Commons.
4. David Warburton: MP for Somerton and Frome, facing allegations from three women.
5. Rob Roberts: Former MP for Delyn, found to have sexually harassed a junior staff member.
6. Andrew Griffiths: Former MP, resigned in 2019 after sending sexually explicit messages to constituents and allegations of rape by his wife in family proceedings.

Accused or Convicted Labour MPs:

1. Mike Hill: Former MP for Hartlepool, resigned in 2021 after an employment tribunal upheld allegations of sexual harassment.
2. John Woodcock: Former MP for Barrow and Furness, left Labour amid sexual harassment claims.
3. Kelvin Hopkins: Former MP for Luton North, faced allegations of inappropriate physical contact and harassment in 2017.
4. Geraint Davies: Former MP, lost the party whip over sexual harassment allegations.
5. Christian Matheson: Former MP, resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct.
6. Keith Vaz: Former MP, suspended for offering to buy cocaine for male escorts after a drug and sex probe.
7. Clive Lewis: MP for Norwich South, cleared of sexual harassment allegations in 2017.

Other Political Figures:

1. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham: Former Labour peer, convicted of child sex offences.
2. Patrick Grady: SNP MP, resigned as the party’s chief whip in Westminster amid allegations of sexual harassment.
3. Derek MacKay: Former Scottish finance minister, forced to resign in 2020 after stalking a 16-year-old boy.

Such spectacles leave the public rightfully nauseated. Debating policy by day while leching after staff by night, these preening narcissists have dragged British politics into the gutter. Their private warped proclivities are matched only by their arrogant sense of entitlement.

Have we forgotten these so-called lawmakers are meant to represent the people, not repulse them with their tawdry antics? Westminster has become a cesspit of amorality where decency and probity go to die.

As the rotten boughs continue to fall from the withering tree of the British state, we must demand an accounting, a radical reformation of a system that perpetuates and protects such malignant elements. For too long, the privileged few have indulged their personal proclivities while immiserating the many. Enough is enough. A moral and political revolution is long overdue.

Paul Knaggs