Kelvin Hopkins MP statement on allegations of harassment against him has been pretty much ignored by most of the mainstream press.
So in the spirit of fairness and openness, here is the statement in full:
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
And I’m getting some really interesting information about a possible set-up of Kelvin Hopkins.
Blog post on that coming soon …
aunty1960 said:
I am sorry these things happen and it is very difficult as only 2 people involved and no witnesses. I can confirm it is very common and from people in positions of trust care and expected values such as church, teachers, politicians, carers, senior social workers, mental health professionals, therapists and all kinds. A senior mental health cognitive behaviour therapist in Brighton who works with rape and child sexual abuse victims is also a dungeon master on the side and really believes women and victimd suffer because they do not submit
A friend had the hug and crotch rub from a senior CofE priest and a ex officer, methodist elder and libdem likes scat games and forces his family to be involved
The word can only be passed around to avoid.
But in this day and age we are all told it is normal and women and victims to accept.
And that includes unions, Labour and Momentum and Unite the Union.
Lot of it about. Its daily wallpaper and occurence. Does not stop when u r over 50 and elderly.
Sorry you cannot exempt Labour because it is inconvenient. Then go for the tories without exception. Most people who go into politics have some sort of ego.
[Agreed. No exemptions for party. The allegations of rape by Bex Bailey and the cover up are really disturbing. And Jared O’Mara’s comments also horrible. But, nevertheless, big doubts about the Hopkins allegations. Blogpost to come.]- TOM
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RedRobbo14 said:
Interesting. One is constantly being told that allegations made by women against men must be respected even if not proved. But in this case, the story by ‘Plaintiff A’ raises lots of questions and is difficult for me to accept on face value, particulary when the defendant seems to be of previous good character.
It looks politically motivated to me, even if it turns out not to be. Working for the Telegraph, the Fabians and Progress and using a BBC interview to criticise Corbyn doesn’t make her story any more believable.
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Xavier Breath said:
Cui bono? How does Ava – a woman who Mr Hopkins recognises as having a strong ambition to work in Westminster – benefit from this? There’s no chance of anyone in politics taking her on there now, is there?
Unless there is some other way she might benefit – and serialising this in a tabloid would only occur were he a Government Minister and had she given in to his alleged advance(s) – I cannot understand why she would lie. Unless the Tories – or their agents – have bunged her several hundred thousands for this, in which case she’d probably make more by telling that to the press.
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John Bacon said:
Kelvin has been a personal friend for 50 years a more sincere dedicated and honest person I have yet to meet. I cannot and will not believe there is any substance to these allegations
I believe this is a setup and is contrived to draw the spotlight from the allegations against the list of Tory MPs. Some of whom will find themselves in a similar situation as Kelvin.
I hope this investigation is short lived and he is vindicated very soon.
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John Bacon said:
Kelvin has been a personal friend for 50 years a more sincere dedicated and honest person I have yet to meet. I cannot and will not believe there is any substance to these allegations
I believe this is a setup and is contrived to draw the spotlight from the allegations against the list of Tory MPs. Some of whom will find themselves in a similar situation as Kelvin.
I hope this investigation is short lived and he is vindicated very soon.
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jo said:
The papers are probably lying as they are hand picking the context and rewriting it to suit the agenda…again. They do like to blur.
I will believe things when she is on tv stating this allegation is factual and not the jounalists twisting words to questions to fit an agenda,if she does that then one of them is lying,fact.
She would gain nothing from it unless her job was to in fact create the situation in the first place (ie all the ”hi can you” txt) or honeytrap.. if not shes probably telling the truth.. …who knows who is up to what these days …there is a fact so obvious its hard beliving that all don’t see it and that is scupper brexit at any cost but also MP’s are a large percent bunch of (fit anyword that suits) creeps as well and apparently all devoid it appears of understanding exactly what the job they wanted is supposed to stand for.
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Thought_So said:
As far as I can see, all the mainstream media have covered this story in an objective and professional manner, even the Daily Mail did so. All of them have, in a spirit of fairness and openness, also quoted what Ava Etemadzadeh said. I think in a situation like this both sides of the story must always be told.
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jo said:
Covered and quoted is the key ,is she quoted in a context of replying,or is she quoted speaking directly,that was my point on that ,not how the papers constructed the articles.As I said they do like to blur.
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jo said:
ps,I would like to hear it for myself from her directly ,if you know what I mean ,,unless she has already and I missed it …then I hold my hands up.
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Thought_So said:
Jo – I think you must have missed it. Ava Etemadzadeh has come forward and been interviewed about this on the BBC and seemed very credible, whilst Kelvin Hopkins (to my knowledge) has not yet spoken on camera.
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Loony Lefty said:
“I simply put an arm around her shoulder to give her a brief slight hug just before getting in to my car.” How can this be appropriate? And the text he sent her was gross and creepy.
Even if his conduct turns out not to be as serious as first claimed (and not as bad as Tory MPs’ conduct), it was still inappropriate. Behaving in this way is unnecessary and unprofessional. And gross.
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Harry Branch said:
By giving only one side of the story this blog does not seem to be written in a spirit of fairness and openness at all. It’s rather unwise for Mr Pride to assume Kelvin Hopkins is telling the truth without any evidence or any balance. Also Xavier Breath asks a very pertinent question about what Ava Etemadzadeh could possibly hope to gain by accusing Hopkins.
[You really should wait until I’ve written the blogpost before attacking me for it. Patience, you’ll have plenty of time to accuse me of all kinds of things after it’s published (possibly tomorrow). Just one word of advice though – I really won’t be losing any sleep over what you or anybody else thinks, I can assure you. Truth’s the truth.] – TOM
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jo said:
Ah ,thank you thought so , then she has nothing to gain unless she’s an agent and if not one of those,I personally would believe her version as its pointless lying .
His version and the txts he says sent from her after ‘the facts’ though seem contradictory and if he has them as proof, it will make it difficult for her (truth or not) to achieve the objective of having him (condemed publicly,sacked or prosecuted) I would imagine.
We will see whats next ,,
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syzygysue said:
AFAIK the texts from ‘Ava’ were supplied by the Telegraph newspaper to Kelvin Hopkins’ solicitor, so were available to the journalist reporting.
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jo said:
Makes a change for me having one to ponder as most (political revalations) are just straight up obvious these days,it usually seems the Mp’s enjoy letting us all know they are above the legal and/or the moral,their tatics being ‘no one gives a monkey anymore anyhow’ (makes easy pickings I assume), plus the distract magic of course.
That aside,my question would be..if his ‘come on’ revolted you,why did you go the long way about getting more dirt instead of just telling/shouting all to avoid him as he’s revolting’,
can we assume a third party (police perhaps or reporters,others) were giving you directions..if so why not say so and if not, well it seems careless to put yourself in harms way for another revolting touchy without having someone to help you prove (I told you so) if that was your point of your next txt and visit to the sleezy creep who wants to rub it on you.
Perhaps this is what she has ,hard unquestionable varified proof with witness and this is to just prolong a spin so people read/watch/trust MSN again ?
( ”ponder to ponder” 🙂
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Sandra said:
Tom Pride – You are apparently calling Ava Etemadzadeh a liar. Like countless other people I have also suffered sexual abuse in the workplace, so I await your evidence of the ‘truth’ you are claiming to know. If you fail then you will be failing countless people everywhere who have suffered abuse by those in positions of power.
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RedRobbo14 said:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/05/westminster-sleaze-due-process-essential-media
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Brian McGowan said:
My view is that Tom has presented Hopkins’ side of the story. Ava’s side has been amply publicised in the MSM, inlcluding an interview shown on the main BBC news programme. Where else have you seen Hopkins’s side presented other then here?
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RedRobbo14 said:
Interesting comment Brian, although I notice that Tom has said on Twitter that he is merely trying to get at the truth, which sounds laudable to me, even if it offends others.
And in that vein, I have problems with some aspects of her account, just as I have problems attempting to explain one of his text messages.
Perhaps we’ll just have to wait for the results of the enquiry?
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jo said:
I agree with Brian ,it also states Tom is putting the other side of the story out and is not by any means taking sides ,so it’s nonsense to propose he has.
The txt she says he sent are very different than the txt he says he sent ,so the evidence is there and I dont see how this is not just a fact of .. a, is lying b, is not …still there is something afoot in the whole agenda and having it proved ‘there is a honeytrap ring working on MP’s’ is as a must as ‘there are MP’s of blackmail corrupted lying sleezy drug addled kiddy fiddling alcholic lecherous fraudsters in every inch of that building’.
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Ron said:
It’s about time the labour party called a ‘no confidence’ vote in the government at the HoC – which would undoubtedly put an end to this sort of event – the tories are renowned for slease and corruption and this is yet more nonsense to hide the outcome of the Ted Heath inquiry
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syzygysue said:
There is a photo of the phone and the whole text message published here
http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/03/suspended-mp-absolutely-and-categorically-denies-sexually-harassing-activist-7052585/
My son-in-law says it reads like he was saying no thanks and letting her down gently.
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Thought_So said:
Brian McGowan said: “Where else have you seen Hopkins’s side presented other then here?”
Answer – Hopkins’ full statement was published by the Mirror (Tom provided the link above, but I guess you missed it) and also by the Metro and many others. All the mainstream media quoted the important points of Hopkins’ statement AND (just as importantly) Ava Etemadzadeh’s.
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Sandra said:
Tom Pride doesn’t have any different ‘truth’ to tell you. The truth is that Hopkins behaved unprofessionally at the very least, and illegally at worst. It’s plain in his own admission that he texted “A nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover… Were I to be young… but I am not.” Ava Etemadzadeh quite rightly thought that was unacceptable, and we can only guess what his wife Patricia thinks! I know what I would do if my partner sent a text like that.
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RedRobbo14 said:
The text message was unprofessional. Who’d a thunk it?
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jo said:
Seems she has had the lions share of the news tbh and it was a bit portrayed as fact he’s guilty (in my mind anyway it looked like they were saying that)
,I just can’t get my head round this bit …His txt’s from her and the dates ,she says he invited ,he says she requested…my point is as they are all on txt somebody already knows the truth and who was what…he deffinately needs a word in ear for the txt ‘nice young man, but I am not’ as inappropriate but this is reading all back to front for me …he rubbed his on her repulsing her …then she told the official… he got told off…she asked for his address to send xmas card..he got promoted …I got lost …
I really need closure on this haha ,hurry up Tom and tell us whos guilty 🙂
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Brian said:
Thought so – yes, you’re right, I missed it. As a general rule I don’t read the gutter press if I can avoid it. Metro, Mirror, Mail, Express etc.
I would have thought with the BBC News giving Ava’s interview a high profile, they would have done the same with Hopkins.
I am not in a position to judge who is right here, but each deserves an equally fair hearing.
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Paul Hemphill said:
VERY interesting!
Paul Hemphill Blog: http://howlinginfinite.wordpress.com You Tube: http://youtu.be/6w7rehLn1UA SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user6120518-1 FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.hemphill.music
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Thought_So said:
Brian – I’m sure the BBC would have given a Hopkins an equally high profile, except that he didn’t give them (or anybody else) an interview. I guess he was just far too busy to show us on camera how truthful he is……
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Brian said:
Thought so – or maybe he thought the BBC is far from impartial, so what’s the point?
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mohandeer said:
Reblogged this on Worldtruth.
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mohandeer said:
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”.
If you had a man do such a thing, which you found “revolting” would you send him this text later that evening?
““Thank you so much Kelvin for coming tonight!! We had a fantastic time. My members loved you!  You’re a star! x Ava”
and this not a month later:”“Hi Kelvin, how are you? Could you please send me your post address? I’d like to send you a Christmas card. x Ava”.
Sounds like she was chasing him or trying to use him as a leg up the career ladder – take your pick.
I bet she didn’t think he’d kept the texts – Oops!
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jo said:
thats the thing the txt ..she says he was the requester not her so if she has txt of him and he has txt of her …well ,beats me 🙂
Its politally motivated and on the gas pages goes brexit (or the scupper brexit anyhow) but…. in most cases like this if not all they only let the media in when they have a cast iron case, so theoretically if it plays to the same tune she is telling the truth and he’s getting sacked or resigning probably and possibly divorced to boot.
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jo said:
it’s a honey trap kgb smear campaign…it’s the blarites again trying to oust corby…it’s a divert away from (kiddy fiddling ,tax fraudling ,coke snorting lunatics in power) game…it’s a feminist revoloution …it’s a sex scandal (because it worked with Thatchers gov) to unravel the tory brexit by the EU ocrats.,,it’s a media ploy to pull the punters in again…it’s a genuine girl looking for justice or…..
it’s me gone radio rental and it’s really 1984 and I’m in the lock up having visions of hell delusions where the worst possible scenario’s always play out….shutter island has nothing on the UK or UK ultra as it’s known in CIA circles 🙂
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jo said:
ps,hurry up Tom please or I wont get parole .
[It’s coming – patience] – TOM
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