Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejected the growing outcry over sexual harassment complaints and corruption cases involving members of his Socialist Party, defiantly declaring that its commitment to feminism and clean government is “absolute.” During his annual end-of-year speech on Monday, Sánchez boasted that his party had been the first in Spain to adopt anti-harassment protocols, and that his government had greenlit legislation to ensure gender balance in key sectors, fight gender-based violence and promote gender equality abroad. “Like everyone else, we have made mistakes,” he said. “But we cannot forget that everything this country has achieved in its quest to ensure equality between men and women has been thanks to the work of its progressive governments.” The prime minister added that he would not accept any “lessons” from the country’s right-wing opposition, which he said behaved like the legendary Spanish inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada while failing to adopt legally required mechanisms to tackle sexual misconduct within its own ranks. Sánchez also rejected criticism regarding the corruption investigations that have resulted in the arrest of several former allies — among them former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, who maintains his innocence — and recent police raids on several ministry buildings. During the address, Sánchez was at pains to contrast the scandals with those of his predecessor, conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was ousted in 2018 after losing a no-confidence vote over the corruption scandals affecting his center-right People’s Party. “Systemic corruption — the sort that was affecting our country’s entire democratic system — ended when the People’s Party left the Spanish government in 2018,” Sánchez said, insisting that there is no evidence of widespread rot within the Socialist Party. NOT GOING ANYWHERE Sánchez’s minority government relies on the support of parliamentary allies who are increasingly uncomfortable with the barrage of sexual harassment and corruption scandals affecting the Socialist Party. The Basque Nationalist Party’s president, Aitor Esteban, this weekend said Sánchez needed to either halt the “daily hemorrhage of news stories” or call snap elections. The Republican Left of Catalonia’s Gabriel Rufián on Monday urged the Socialist Party to “stop playing the victim and drop the ‘whataboutism’ tactics,” adding that his continued support depended on the prime minister’s ability to “reform his party and his government.” Sánchez used his address to the nation to clarify that he does not plan to hold snap elections and is thinking solely of the legislative wins his government can notch by the end of its term in 2027. He added that it is his duty to continue fighting for progressive measures, and urged his allies to respect the will of the voters who made it possible for him to secure another term as prime minister when elections were last held. The Socialist leader also rejected Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz’s call for a “profound Cabinet reshuffle” to make a clean break with the rot, insisting all members of his government are instrumental to its current success. That intransigent stance angered members of Díaz’s Sumar party, the left-wing junior partner in Spain’s coalition government, with Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun urging the prime minister to reconsider his stance in order to “restart” the stalled legislative term. Throughout his address, Sánchez stressed that the fall of his government would result in a “historic shift” in Spain that would see the far-right Vox party come to power. “We are facing the most sterile, destructive, and I would say the most extreme opposition in recent times.” Sánchez’s parliamentary allies recognize that the next elections are likely to result in a right-wing government that will depend on Vox’s backing, if not its active participation. But that increasingly does not seem to be enough to ensure their continued support for the prime minister. “Is it worth it to endure this situation in order to stop the right and the far-right from taking office?” the Republican Left of Catalonia’s Rufián asked rhetorically. “Yes.” “But we also have to ask ourselves if this situation is going to make the far-right grow,” he added. “And if it will permit the far-right to not only come to power, but remain there for years.”

Winter vacation can’t start soon enough for Pedro Sánchez. Spain’s governing Socialist Party is being battered by a deluge of sexual harassment scandals that is prompting the resignation or dismissal of mayors, regional leaders and even officials employed in the prime minister’s palace. Within the party, there’s open recognition that its self-proclaimed status as the country’s premier progressive political entity is being severely undermined. The scandals are also provoking major fractures within Sánchez’s coalition government and parliamentary alliance, with even his most reliable collaborators demanding he make major changes — or call snap elections. Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, whose far-left Sumar party is the junior partner in Sánchez’s coalition government, said on Friday that a “profound Cabinet reshuffle” was needed to make a clean break with the rot. Aitor Esteban, president of the Basque Nationalist Party — one of the government’s most reliable parliamentary partners — said if the Socialists fail to halt the “daily hemorrhage of news stories,” snap elections must be held. Spain’s Socialists are no strangers to scandal, having spent the past two years dealing with endless headline-grabbing revelations detailing the alleged embezzlement of public funds by former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and party boss Santos Cerdán — both of whom maintain their innocence. Sánchez has so far weathered the storms by insisting the corruption cases are limited to just a few bad apples, and arguing that only his government can keep the country on a socially liberal track. But the scale of the sexual harassment scandals revealed in recent days — which have coincided with anti-corruption raids in government buildings — represent an unprecedented challenge for the prime minister. There are serious doubts that Sánchez’s “stay-the-course” playbook will suffice to see his government through this latest political earthquake. GROWING SKEPTICISM When Sánchez came to power in 2018 he boasted that he led “the most feminist government in history,” with 11 of the country’s 17 ministries led by women. Over the past seven years his successive administrations have passed legislation to ensure gender balance in key sectors, fight gender-based violence and promote gender equality abroad. But the actions of some of Sa´nchez’s fellow Socialists are fueling growing skepticism about whether the governing party truly respects women. Last summer the prime minister apologized to supporters and expressed his “shame” after the release of wiretaps on which the Spanish police alleged former Transport Minister Ábalos could be heard describing his trysts with female sex workers. Ábalos, for his part, claims the recordings have been manipulated and the voice they capture is not his. Weeks later, sexual harassment complaints against another of the prime minister’s long-time collaborators, Francisco Salazar, forced his resignation on the very day he was meant to assume a new role as one of the party’s top leaders. That scandal resurfaced this month after Spanish media revealed the party had slow-walked its investigation into the alleged abuses committed by Salazar, who maintains his innocence. Last week Sánchez said he took “personal responsibility” for the botched investigation and apologized for not reaching out to Salazar’s victims. He also ordered the dismissal of Antonio Hernández, an official employed in the prime minister’s palace whom Salazar’s victims had singled out as the harasser’s alleged “accomplice.” Hernández denies the accusation. Sánchez’s attempts to contain the situation don’t appear to have quelled indignation over the party’s failure to address Salazar’s alleged abuses, and the frustration has resulted in a version of the #MeToo movement within the Socialists’ ranks. Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, whose far-left Sumar party is the junior partner in Sánchez’s coalition government, said on Friday that a “profound Cabinet reshuffle” was needed to make a clean break with the rot. | Perez Meca/Getty Images Over recent days, the party’s boss in Torremolinos has been suspended from his post after being denounced for sexual harassment by an alderman, who also accused the Socialists of failing to act when she first reported the alleged abuses last summer. Belalcázar’s mayor has also stepped down following the publication of sexually explicit messages to a municipal employee, and the launch of an investigation for alleged harassment has prompted the Socialists’ deputy secretary in the province of Valencia to leave the party. The three officials deny the accusations against them. So, too, does José Tomé, who insists the multiple sexual harassment complaints that resulted in his resignation as president of the Provincial Council of Lugo this week are completely unfounded. The admission of regional leader José Ramón Gómez Besteiro that he had been aware of the allegations against Tomé for months prompted the party’s regional equality czar to step down in disgust, and are generating doubts regarding the Socialists’ political future in the Galicia. TROUBLED TIMES The barrage of sexual harassment complaints are a major problem for Sánchez. Women are a key segment of his party’s voter base: Female voters tend to participate in elections to a greater extent than men, and have historically mobilized in favor of the Socialists. But surveys by the country’s national polling institute reveal that women are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the party. In a poll carried out shortly after the Ábalos recordings were released, support for the Socialists among female voters dropped from 26.2 percent to 19.4 percent. Pilar Bernabé, the party’s equality secretary, admitted on Friday that the wave of harassment complaints marked a “before and after” moment for the Socialists, who now had to prove that they have zero tolerance for abuse. “Sexism is incompatible with Socialism,” she added. The challenges to the party’s bona fides are less than welcome at a moment when it faces multiple corruption investigations. In addition to the ongoing probes into Ábalos and Cerdán — both of whom were ordered jailed without bond last month — this week former Socialist Party member Leire Díez along with Vicente Fernández, the former head of the state-owned agency charged with managing Spain’s business holdings, were arrested for alleged embezzlement and influence peddling. At their respective bail hearings, Díez invoked her right to remain silent, while Fernández denied any wrongdoing. Days later, the elite anti-corruption unit of Spain’s Civil Guard raided several agencies managed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, as well as the headquarters of the Spanish Postal Service, as part of a related investigation into the alleged rigging of public contracts. CAN SÁNCHEZ CARRY ON? During a campaign event headlined by Sa´nchez on Sunday, party members urged the prime minister to act. “Take a firm hand to the harassers, the womanizers, the chauvinists!” said Irene Pozas, head of the Socialist Youth in the province of Cáceres. “Don’t hold back, Pedro: The women of the Socialist Party must not have any cause for regret!” Pedro Sánchez may be hoping for relief from the scandals during the upcoming holiday break in Spain, but it’s unclear if his party, and the weak coalition government it leads, will be able to recover. | Marcos del Mazo/Getty Images While admitting shortcomings in the party’s internal mechanisms for handling complaints, Sánchez defended the Socialists’ determination to “act decisively and transparently” to tackle sexism and corruption. The prime minister also defiantly asserted his will to carry on, telling supporters that “governing means facing the music and staying strong through thick and thin.” Sánchez may be hoping for relief from the scandals during the upcoming holiday break in Spain, but it’s unclear if his party, and the weak coalition government it leads, will be able to recover. Although the prime minister insists he intends to govern until the current legislative term ends in 2027, his inability to pass a fresh budget and wider difficulties in passing legislation jeopardize that goal. The Socialists’ parliamentary allies are reluctant to see Sánchez fall because they know snap elections will almost certainly produce a right-wing government influenced by the far-right Vox party. But they are also wary of being associated misogyny and fraud — especially if voters may soon be heading to the polls. “Stopping the far right and the extreme right is always a non-negotiable duty, but it is not achieved merely by saying it, but by demonstrating that we are better,” tweeted the president of the Republican Left of Catalonia, Oriol Junqueras. “Those who abuse and become corrupt cannot regenerate democracy.”

LONDON — Two thirds of women in the British armed forces have experienced forms of “sexualized behavior” in the last year, according to a new in-depth study carried out by the Ministry of Defence. The most common type of harassment faced by female service personnel was being subjected to sexual jokes or comments (58 percent). Yet there was a high incidence of other kinds of misconduct, with a significant minority saying they had faced unwelcome comments about their body (41 percent), sexual gestures or body language (29 percent), unwanted attempts to establish a romantic or sexual relationship (25 percent), or exposure to pornographic material (19 percent). Almost a third (32 percent) of women surveyed said they had experienced unwanted touching and eight percent reported non-consensual sexual activity. Male service personnel also faced sexual harassment, with 34 percent saying they had encountered sexualized behavior, most of which was verbal. Junior personnel were disproportionately targeted, with 71 percent of women below officer ranks having experienced sexualized behavior compared with 58 percent of female officers. Women of both rank groupings were more likely to have experienced sexualized behavior than equivalent male ranks. The survey of more than 94,000 service personnel was carried out following previous reviews by Air Chief Marshal Michael Wigston and the House of Commons Defence Committee, both of which called for a more thorough inquiry into the scale of the issue. Defense Minister Louise Sandher-Jones MP called the results “wholly unacceptable.” The survey “provides a no-holds barred baseline to fully confront and address the root causes of this issue,” she added, while “new standards in transparency and accountability are being set across our armed forces.” Chief of the Defence Staff Richard Knighton said: “The results of the survey show just how much more I, and leaders at every level, need to do to stamp out behaviour which has no place in the U.K. armed forces.” He highlighted new independent mechanisms for reporting the most serious incidents outside of the chain of command and a complaints app, both launched recently. The armed forces have long struggled to grapple with reports of inappropriate behavior and assault, which came to the fore again this year at the inquest into the death of teenage Royal Artillery gunner Jaysley Beck. The inquest found that she had been overwhelmed by unwanted sexual advances and messages from a superior officer before she took her own life in 2021.

Newly released congressional documents show that pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein chatted with the former boss of the Council of Europe about making contact with senior Russian officials. “I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote to Thorbjørn Jagland, who was the human rights organization’s secretary-general at the time, in a June 24, 2018 email. Putin and Lavrov were, and remain, Russia’s president and foreign minister, respectively. Jagland replied that he would meet Lavrov’s assistant the following day and would suggest a connection with Epstein. “Thank you fo a lovely evening. I’ll com to un high level week,” Jagland told Epstein in a missive riddled with spelling mistakes. It is unclear whether any meeting or follow-up discussion ever took place. In the same exchange, Epstein referenced previous conversations he had with Russia’s former U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who died in 2017. “Churkin was great,” Epstein wrote. “He understood trump after our conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something its that simple.” Jagland could not be reached for comment. The Council of Europe declined to comment. Epstein died in prison in August 2019. A former Norwegian prime minister and longtime Labor Party politician, Jagland also served as Oslo’s foreign minister and later led the Council of Europe as secretary-general from 2009 to 2019. The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization, and oversees the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In 2019, Jagland opposed Russia’s potential withdrawal from the body amid disputes over Ukraine’s Crimea, warning it would be a “huge setback” for human rights by depriving 144 million Russians of the right to seek legal redress at the ECHR. The Epstein emails, among the thousands of pages of documents released Wednesday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee, provide new insight into the convicted sex offender’s extensive network of political and business contacts, and his apparent efforts to influence or advise foreign governments during Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. president. In some messages, Epstein claimed he had been advising Russian officials on better understanding Trump’s approach to diplomacy and negotiation. The emails add to evidence illustrating Epstein’s attempts to maintain access to international political figures well after his 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution until shortly before his 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Wednesday that the broader set of emails “prove absolutely nothing other than President Trump did nothing wrong” — while Trump accused the opposition Democrats of “trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein hoax” to “deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown.”

Prince Andrew has surrendered his titles, including the Duke of York, amid growing pressure over a series of scandals, including his alleged ties with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Andrew said in a statement Friday evening. Andrew has been under intense scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein — the American financier and convicted sex offender who ran a network that exploited and trafficked underage girls. He faced backlash over a civil sexual-assault court case brought in the U.S. by Virginia Giuffre, which was eventually settled, and over his involvement with an alleged Chinese spy. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life,” Andrew added in his statement, “vigorously” denying the accusations against him. The announcement comes just days before the release of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, which reportedly details three occasions on which Andrew allegedly had sex with her — excerpts of which were published by the Guardian earlier in the week. Andrew’s children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, are set to retain their titles.

LONDON — Rookie British MPs are turning to outside management training as they struggle to balance the burden of being both legislator and boss. Around half of MPs who entered the House of Commons after last year’s Labour landslide victory were new arrivals, and for many it was the first time they had found themselves responsible for managing a team of people. Unlike other countries — such as the U.S. — where newbie legislators are offered extensive training during post-election transition periods, British parliamentarians are expected to hit the ground running within hours of the votes being tallied. The result? A notoriously poor workplace environment at the heart of Britain’s democracy that raises the risk of burnout, bullying and constant churn among those responsible for setting laws and advocating for society’s most vulnerable. ‘IT WAS JUST GO AND DO IT YOURSELF’ The urgency to hire staff, prepare contracts and find and furnish a constituency office, all while trying to make sense of Westminster’s archaic traditions, came as a “big culture shock” to new Labour MP Matt Bishop. Despite management experience from his previous roles as a police officer and school welfare officer, Bishop told POLITICO those unique pressures, combined with an absence of institutional support, had posed a serious challenge for his new intake. “What I anticipated happening if I won was that there would be a book or a guide that said: ‘This is what you do, this is what you tick off first,'” he said. “But there was nothing, it was just go and do it yourself.” Fellow Labour MP Beccy Cooper said she too had been “absolutely astounded” at the lack of support when she arrived in parliament last year, warning the system risked setting up new arrivals for failure from the outset. “I’m massively surprised that this country runs at all. It’s miraculous,” she said. “I think it’s just through people’s sheer bloody-mindedness that anything gets done.” Responding to the comments, a House of Commons spokesperson said: “The House of Commons aims to provide excellent services to Members, ensuring they have access to the professional support and advice they need to carry out their parliamentary duties.” The spokesperson added new MPs were given a “comprehensive induction” which included one-on-one guidance on recruitment, staffing and HR. Best practice guides and “tailored” documentation, they said, was also on offer to help MP “recruit and manage their teams quickly and effectively.” FINALLY, TRAINING Despite those claims, both Bishop and Cooper are among a cadre of new MPs now signed up to a training and certification scheme being offered by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Arming legislators with management skills, the group argues, will not only boost productivity but also help improve Westminster’s torrid reputation following a long stream of bullying and sexual harassment scandals. But Petra Wilton, the CMI’s director of policy and external affairs, said it was “frustrating” that the parliamentary system lacks accountability around who should be responsible for ensuring new MPs are properly supported. British parliamentarians are expected to hit the ground running within hours of the votes being tallied. | Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Alongside basic leadership skills, the training will provide MPs with advice on how to implement performance management schemes and handle difficult conversations with staff — many of whom arrive straight from university into a world of harrowing constituency casework and online abuse. Without a centralized HR system, MPs are largely left to manage those relationships alone — a dynamic that has repeatedly been cited as a contributing factor to Westminster’s often odious workplace culture. “Some of my colleagues have had some terrible HR issues because they’ve hired people that, frankly, haven’t been a good fit,” Cooper added. “They’ve ended up in all sorts of sticky situations.” Having entered parliament following a long career as a public health doctor, Cooper claimed she’d spent a significant amount of time trying to work within the constraints of the system to build a “healthy work environment” for her staff — something she said was “not the norm” in Westminster. “It’s takes a lot of energy just to get things running reasonably normally, because you are trying to run it in a very abnormal environment,” she said. Adding to those pressures, Bishop argued, is that staffing budgets are strictly controlled by an independent regulator, meaning MPs have no way to compensate staff expected to routinely work beyond their contracted hours and duties. “I was a union rep in the last school I worked at,” he added. “If the head teacher asked the staff to work an extra two hours a week and not get paid for it, I’d be jumping up and down, and saying we’d walk out and see them at a tribunal.” But one parliamentary staffer — granted anonymity to speak openly about the issue — cast doubt on whether MPs would benefit from the scheme. “The problem is MPs are not managers and it’s not a business,” they said. “It’s taxpayers’ money, which some begin to treat as if it were their own.” Suddenly propelled into a position of power and handed a national media presence, many “begin to believe their own hype,” the staffer claimed. “And while parliament is still more often a place for more noble causes than low skullduggery, the palace can change people. And usually for the worse.” But with the U.K. being a “nation of accidental managers,” Wilton insists those problems are not unique to Westminster, with CMI research finding that 82 percent of those taking up management positions across the British economy do so without any formal leadership training. After years of failed attempts, the CMI hopes its new crop of MP “advocates” will finally be able to advance that case — even if Wilton claims the Labour government’s decision to cut a management apprenticeship and instead focus on “sexier” skills around AI and construction does not bode well. “It’s almost like the Labour government were saying that actually managers can look after themselves, and we want to prioritize socially disadvantaged and younger people,” Wilton said. “Whereas actually you very much need both.” Esther Webber contributed additional reporting.

An ally of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has resigned after allegations of sexual harassment — in a fresh blow for Spain’s Socialist Party just weeks after a string of corruption scandals erupted. Francisco Salazar, a close ally of Sánchez, stepped down from his position as a deputy in the party’s secretariat and asked for the claims to be investigated, the Socialist Party said in a statement. The allegations were made in the left-wing Spanish news site elDiario.es. The outlet alleged that Salazar made inappropriate comments about a female subordinate’s clothing and body, invited her to dinner alone and asked her to sleep at his home.   The Socialist Party said it will begin an investigation immediately, but said no official complaints had been made. The latest incident is a fresh blow for Sánchez, who was due to speak at the party’s headquarters in Madrid as the news broke. Reuters reported that Sánchez spoke an hour later than scheduled, and called for any woman suffering sexual abuse to report it via the party’s official channels. He did not mention Salazar directly. Sánchez publicly apologized last month for the party’s recent corruption scandals including senior party figures. The Spanish prime minister, who leads a minority coalition government, has repeatedly come under fire for the scandals. The main opposition party, the center-right Peoples’ Party, has accused Sánchez of being a “capo” leading a “mafia” administration, while protests in Madrid organized by the PP last month drew tens of thousands. Even from within his own party, politicians from Spain’s cities and regions have called for Sánchez to hold snap national elections — even while knowing their party would be virtually guaranteed to lose. The speech at the Socialist Party’s headquarters was intended to draw a line under the recent scandals and announce a shake-up of the party to bolster its reputation.