In response to Kathy Gyngell: This harassment hysteria is out of all proportion, Gary Laconic Jr. wrote:
Well done, Kathy, for what in the current climate is a courageous piece that brings some much-needed perspective.
No doubt you will be excoriated by the Provisional wing of the Sisterhood but I imagine that your viewpoint will find favour with many everyday women, ie those who simply get on with their life rather than see themselves as professional victims and who do not exist on Twitter in a state of perpetual outrage.
At least until further stories emerge, the weekend tale regarding Mark Garnier is held to be emblematic of the prevailing culture. Only he and the secretary actually know the full context of what occurred but, as alluded to in Kathy’s article, it seems incongruous that any self-respecting and experienced female employee would carry out a sudden and unexpected instruction to buy sex toys; frankly, Garnier’s claim that the Soho shopping trip was the culmination of some mutual jocularity, which she is now re-interpreting, seems far more plausible.
In fact, if this story of alleged sexual harassment reminds me of anyone, it is less Harvey Weinstein and more Mo Mowlam, who, as Northern Ireland Secretary, apparently bragged that she would send her protection officers to buy tampons. Two decades on, might we still hear from those exploited gentlemen?
