Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LABOUR MP FACING SEX PEST PROBE OVER AIDE
Corbyn critic faces Labour party probe
A LABOUR backbencher known as an arch-critic of Jeremy Corbyn last night faced claims he sexually harassed a female aide.
John Woodcock will be the subject of a hearing before the party’s National Constitutional Committee later this year.
It is alleged the MP sent inappropriate texts and emails to a former staffer during the two years she worked for the party.
And it is said the woman felt uncomfortable and left her job. She claims that Mr Woodcock continued to contact her even after she had quit, sending regular messages and emails.
Mr Woodcock, 39, last night refused to discuss the allegations, said to date from 2014 to 2016.
Last November Labour’s National Executive Committee agreed the woman’s complaint met the necessary threshold to refer the case to the constitutional committee.
The case follows a series of Westminster sex scandals.
A dossier of alleged offenders compiled by Parliamentary staff – minus the names – was leaked. As the scandal developed it ended the careers of
leading cabinet ministers Michael Fallon and Damian Green.
A source said Mr Woodcock plans to contest the claims.
He has previously said he could not vote to make Labour leader Mr Corbyn Prime Minister because of his stance on scrapping the Trident nuclear missile.
DIVORCED
Building Trident submarines provides many jobs for the MP’s constituency of Barrow and Furness, Cumbria.
Mr Woodcock split from his wife Mandy Telford in 2014 and they were divorced the following year.
He worked on fellow MP Liz Kendall’s leadership campaign during 2015. During the race, a number of claims – all denied – emerged that the two were in a relationship.
Mr Woodcock said at the time the allegation was “not true, has never been true and would never be true”.
He blamed a smear campaign and vowed legal action against those behind the rumours.
Mr Woodcock is currently in a relationship with politicial journalist Isabel Hardman.
She complained in 2016 when she was described as “totty” by an MP later identified as Colonel Bob Stewart.
Col Stewart later apologised for what Ms Hardman, whose new book is called Why We Get the Wrong Politicians, had called a “sexist” term.
In his early career, Mr Woodcock worked on the 2005 election campaign.
He was elected to the seat of Barrow and Furness with a majority of more than 5,000.
Later, Mr Woodcock became a special adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
In December 2013, Mr Woodcock said he was being treated for depression.
In May 2015 he was made Shadow Minister for Young People.
He quit his post in September the following year after Opposition Leader Mr Corbyn was elected by the party.
Last year Mr Woodcock was re-elected with a majority of just 209 votes.
Claims of anti-Semitism have dogged the leadership for weeks and the party has been far too slow to respond.
The same approach cannot be allowed when a claim of sexual harassment is brought.
Corbyn critic John Woodcock faces allegations of harassment – which he strongly denies – and will appear before a panel later this year. It is vital Mr Woodcock is given a fair hearing. But also that his case is heard swiftly and efficiently.
The party needs to show its processes are those of an organisation fit to govern.