Allegations of groping against Tesco chairman, former CBI President and Labour Party backer, John Allan, are coming in thick and fast with two women claiming physically inappropriate behaviour and a further two women alleging Allan spoke sexually out of turn. There’s a lot to grapple with here…
The Tesco chair’s alleged first victim claims Allan, 74, grabbed her bottom at the CBI annual dinner in May 2019. Also in 2019, Allan was forced to apologise to a co-worker for saying her dress “suited her figure”. At another annual corporate whoopee, this time for Tesco in June 2022, it is claimed that Allan touched the bottom of a co-worker. A fourth woman claims Allan told her that her bottom was making it hard for him to concentrate on anything else in 2021. Allan denies three of the four allegations… though it is possible that he hasn’t grasped the full extent of the predicament yet.
The Guardian’s coverage of the story made sure to include a picture of Allan shaking hands with Boris back in 2019, although for some reason they forgot to mention his more recent schmoozing efforts: he’s now one of Labour’s biggest cheerleaders in the City. In fact, here he is sat right next to Rachel Reeves during Labour’s big meeting with business leaders earlier this year…
My Labour government will secure the highest sustained growth in the G7.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 27, 2023
Fantastic to speak with business leaders this morning, about how @RachelReevesMP and I will work in partnership with them to deliver good jobs, drive productivity, and make every family better off. pic.twitter.com/0cF3xp71ys
He’s even played a starring role in Labour’s latest prawn cocktail offensive, signing letters of support, explaining to City hotshots how sucking up to enterprise could land yet another blow to the Tories’ fundraising efforts. Plucky Allan has always enjoyed a colourful personal past, so maybe the latest claims shouldn’t come as a surprise. He made headlines in the Sun back in 1998 for another gripping story:
“A millionaire was granted an historic divorce because his wife banned saucy sex acts, it was revealed yesterday. Tycoon John Allan, 49, said Polish-born Ewa stopped performing oral sex […] The judge, assistant recorder Alison Hall QC, said the couple’s sex life began to decline from mid-1994 “because of the wife’s disinclination to perform certain sexual acts, previously enjoyed, on principle.”
Tesco have lunged to Allan’s defence to deny the 2022 allegation. Every little helps…
