Sex text storm MP walks out of ‘rigged Labour inquiry’
A LABOUR MP suspended over sexual harassment allegations has pulled out of a party investigation into his behaviour, claiming he is being punished for opposing Jeremy Corbyn.
John Woodcock has told Labour chiefs he will not attend a ‘tainted’ disciplinary hearing into claims that he sent inappropriate texts and messages to a female aide.
Barrow and Furness MP Mr Woodcock, a leading supporter of Tony Blair, says the way the investigation is being managed by Labour’s new general secretary Jennie Formby lays it ‘open to charges of rigging’.
In a letter to party bosses, seen by The Mail on Sunday, he challenges them to hand his case over to a fully independent tribunal. Mr Woodcock makes it clear he does not trust Ms Formby after recent reports that she was a member of the hard-Left Militant Tendency in the 1980s.
The Trotskyist organisation infiltrated Labour and was banned by then Labour leader Neil Kinnock.
He also accuses the party of holding back information which by law it must disclose to him.
Mr Woodcock had the Labour whip suspended two months ago when the text message claims were made public. He vehemently denies any wrongdoing. In recent years, he has savaged Mr Corbyn over aspects of his defence policy such as the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent. In his letter, Mr Wood- cock cites reports that Mr Corbyn’s team was ‘looking for a reason to suspend me’. He also accuses Ms Formby of revealing before she became Labour general secretary how she wanted to ‘ditch Blairites’. Mr Woodcock says: ‘Regardless of whether other Labour members share my misgivings about Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, no one should be prepared to tolerate the disdain for due process and the rule of law that has been allowed to fester within Labour.’ The handling of complaints of sexual harassment should be ‘fair to all... with no heed given to the defendant or complainant’s opinion of Mr Corbyn’s leadership’. The MP stresses he strongly denies ‘the charge of sexual harassment formulated against me by Labour’s National Executive Committee’ but understands the complaint should be properly investigated. In a challenge to Ms Formby, he says: ‘If you believe in changing the culture in politics rather than using accusations as a way to silence Mr Corbyn’s critics, you should agree to make arrangements to transfer my case to an independent system or ask the Law Society to appoint an independent arbiter.’ Labour sources last night rejected any suggestion the inquiry was rigged, with a spokesman insisting all complaints were ‘fully investigated’.