03 January 2023 , 17:15
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A Tory councillor who suggested an alleged rape victim was “likely” to be a prostitute is facing disciplinary action from the Conservative Party.
The Mirror yesterday told how underneath an online new report headlined “Woman raped in Plumstead park in early hours”, Shaun Slator wrote: “More likely that it's a punter that didn't pay.”
His comments triggered outrage and calls for him to quit.
We can now reveal Mr Slator is a parliamentary passholder who works for Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price.
Former Health Minister Ms Doyle-Price told the Mirror: “I’m very disappointed with his comments.
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“You will know that I’m probably one of the most outspoken campaigners against violence against women and girls.
Tory MP Jackie Doyle-Price, who employs Mr Slator in her parliamentary office, said she was disappointed by his comments (Richard Townshend Photography)
Tory councillor Shaun Slator“I am on record in Parliament as saying that I won’t be happy until violence against female sex workers is taken as seriously as violence against young, pretty, middle-class women.”
But she added: “There’s no question of me taking any action against him because he’s entitled to articulate his own views in his own time.
“There is no breach of his employment conditions with me but he will know how disappointed I am with him.”
Mr Slator, who is one of Ms Doyle-Price’s office staff, sits on Bromley Council in South East London.
Labour ’s group leader on the authority, Simon Jeal, said he and the local party were “disgusted” by the remarks and called on the Tories to “publicly and unequivocally condemn his comments”.
The Lib Dems’ group leader Julie Ireland has written to council leader Colin Smith “calling for councillor Shaun Slator to be suspended from the Conservative Party, pending an investigation into comments he made about an alleged rape victim”.
In her letter, she said it was “a really offensive case of victim shaming which has no place in our society and should be condemned by all political parties”.
She added: “What a terrible message to send to women and girls in his ward and across the borough, that violence against them is likely to be trivialised and victim condemned rather than the perpetrator.”
She called for “an immediate apology” and for Mr Slator’s suspension - and demanded an investigation by the council’s standards committee.
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Mr Slator's comment below a news article about an alleged rapeThe Labour group in Orpington has also formally complained to the council, saying: “We cannot have vile attitudes like this pervade our society.”
The Mirror understands Mr Slator is the subject of a Conservative Party disciplinary process, though it is unclear if he has been suspended.
A party spokesman said: “We have an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
“This process is rightly confidential."
A Bromley Council spokeswoman said: “We have received complaints relating to this matter which the council will now investigate.”
Speaking to the Mirror on Monday, Mr Slator defended his remarks, claiming: ““I’m not promoting rape, am I?”
Asked if it was appropriate for a councillor to suggest an alleged rape victim was a prostitute, he insisted: “I said it was a possibility.
“I think if there is a problem with that and the police haven’t been solving it for many years, I think that is a problem.”