FORMER Tory minister Edwina Currie has said people need to learn how to reject advances at work “without upsetting people”.

Ms Currie said the allegations surfacing at Westminster and Holyrood were based on “flimsy” evidence.

She told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland show: “Most politicians, most of the time are just concentrating on their job and the evidence, such as it is, is not only quite flimsy but also it goes back a long, long time.”

Ms Currie said it should be acceptable for people to “make a pass” at work and people had to learn how to deal with it appropriately, adding: “This is an attempt to shame all sorts of people who have done absolutely nothing wrong.”

She added: “The workplace, these days, is where people meet. It’s where many romances and liaisons get developed.

“You can’t ban it from the workplace. You have to learn the language of making the approach and you have to learn the language of repelling it.”

She added: “We’re not in Victorian times, we’re not weak little victims. If anyone had ever tried anything on, whether it was in the House of Commons or anywhere else, and they were being persistent and a pest I would have made it quite clear to him he would leave bent double.”