Female Labour MP charged with harassing woman
A FEMALE Labour MP has been charged with waging a 20-month harassment campaign against a woman.
Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe said yesterday she was ‘innocent of any wrongdoing’ after being suspended by the Labour Party pending the outcome of the case.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the 55-year-old would face a trial in November after assessing a file of evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police. It is understood the allegation against her was made on April 25 and relates to an alleged offence in London.
Miss Webbe, who rose to prominence as a vocal Jeremy Corbyn supporter, is charged with targeting an unidentified woman between September 1, 2018, and April 26 this year.
Within minutes of the announcement, the MP released a statement, saying: ‘I am innocent of any wrongdoing and look forward to proving this in court. I will be vigorously defending myself against these claims.’
Miss Webbe entered the Commons in the December election, winning the seat formerly held by Keith Vaz, the Labour veteran who retired from Parliament
after a scandal. He received a six-month Commons suspension for causing ‘significant damage’ to the reputation of the House after the standards committee found he expressed a willingness to buy cocaine for others during an encounter with male sex workers. Controversy surrounded Miss Webbe’s selection as candidate for the seat, resulting in the resignation of the Constituency Labour Party chairman, who described it as a ‘fix’.
Miss Webbe was previously a councillor in Islington, north
London, between 2010 and 2018. Earlier in her career she acted as an adviser to Ken Livingstone when he was mayor of London before becoming a member of Labour’s national executive committee.
Brought up in Leicester, she studied race and ethnic relations at university.
Miss Webbe became a campaigner against violence after her cousin was killed. She described knife crime as an ‘epidemic’ after Isaac Williams, 20, was stabbed in the thigh on April 21 last year and died three days later in hospital.
The former youth worker said her family, who came to Leicester from Nevis in the Caribbean as part of the Windrush generation, were devastated by Mr Williams’ death.
Prosecutor Jenny Hopkins, head of special crime and counter-terrorism division, said: ‘The CPS has today decided that Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East, should be charged with an offence of harassment against one female.
‘Criminal proceedings against Miss Webbe are now active and she has the right to a fair trial.’
A Labour Party spokesman said yesterday: ‘It would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing case.’
Miss Webbe is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 11.
‘I am innocent of any wrongdoing’