Labour MP probed over sex pest claims
LABOUR faced fresh claims of a sex harassment cover-up last night as a researcher alleged she was told to keep quiet after she received inappropriate text messages from a shadow minister.
The party launched a formal investigation into Ivan Lewis, who served as shadow international secretary under Ed Miliband.
The former researcher said that she raised concerns about the Bury South MP with Mr Miliband’s office. ‘The feedback that I got was that if I went about making a formal complaint I would end up receiving unwanted media attention,’ she told BuzzFeed News. ‘That put me off doing anything. It wasn’t clear to me where the formal process was.’
A second researcher said she had informally raised concerns after he asked her out and a third told BuzzFeed News that during a meeting to discuss a possible job opportunity Mr Lewis attempted to rub his foot against hers under the table.
The MP was already facing allegations from a woman who said he harassed her at a party event in 2010, when she was 19, by repeatedly touching her leg and inviting her to his house. His solicitor last night said: ‘ Mr Lewis has previously acknowledged that on some occasions his invitations to people he works with to join him for dinner or drinks have made them feel uncomfortable. He apologises if this caused them discomfort. He has always sought to behave with integrity and is genuinely sorry if he got it wrong in some circumstances.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘ The Labour Party takes all allegations of sexual harassment extremely seriously and all complaints are investigated in line with our robust procedures. Ivan Lewis is currently under investigation following the receipt of a complaint.’