A key ally of Alex Salmond has accused the media of being “disingenuous” for claiming the former First Minister is sexist.
Hannah Bardell, who worked for Salmond for years and is now an MP, said: “I cannot think of anyone who has done more to help women, and men, to progress under his guidance.
“It’s disingenuous to create that sort of storm round what he said.”
Last week Salmond told Business Minister Anna Soubry to “Behave yourself, woman” in the House of Commons and accused her of acting like she was “demented”.
Current First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was forced to deny her predecessor was prejudiced last week when she was on a tour of the US.
She claimed she had never met anyone “less sexist” than Salmond and that he didn’t “have a sexist bone in his body”.
However, speaking on the Sunday Post politics podcast, Bardell claimed the House of Commons was sexist.
She pointed to the example of the House of Commons football team that does not let women play.
She said: “We’ve got to lead the charge in this country on sexism.”
Bardell, who has been singled out as one of the stars of the new intake of SNP MPs, also explained why she messed up making the oath of allegiance on her first day in the Commons and how suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst inspired her to carry on.
You can listen to the full podcast here. We apologise for the sound quality it was recorded on a windy rooftop terrace.
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