I was right to promote accused MP, says Corbyn

‘Warped and degrading’

JEREMY Corbyn claimed yesterday it was ‘reasonable’ to have promoted an MP knowing he was accused of unwanted advances to a woman.

The Labour leader said he knew Kelvin Hopkins had been reprimanded but believed the ‘case was closed’ and it was the ‘right thing’ to make him culture spokesman.

The appointment, in July 2016, came after young activist Ava Etemadzadeh had complained about Mr Hopkins.

The admission came as shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said she was ‘ashamed’ of behaviour in the Labour Party, which needed a ‘step change’.

Referring to Mr Hopkins, Mr Corbyn said yesterday: ‘Yes, I was aware that he had been reprimanded and I was made aware that that was the end of the matinet ter. He had been reprimanded, the case had been closed. I thought it was reasonable to appoint him, albeit for a very short time, to Shadow Cabinet.’

Miss Etemadzadeh said Mr Hopkins sent lewd texts three years ago, when she was 24.

She said she complained twice to Mr Corbyn’s office but was left ‘disillusioned’ after the Labour leader made him shadow culture secretary. Following the appointment, then-chief whip Dame Rosie Winterton raised the alleged incident with Mr Corbyn’s office, but Mr Hopkins remained in his post.

Mr Hopkins was finally suspended by Labour last week after Miss Etemadzadeh contacted the party again with fresh information. The MP ‘categorically denies’ any inappropriate conduct in relation to her.

Asked why the case was reopened, Mr Corbyn said: ‘Obviously, there will now be an investigation taking place on this and that’s ongoing. I made a decision to put him into the Shadow Cab- for a short time and I thought that was the right thing to do. He has been suspended from party membership... a decision I took immediately I heard about the later revelations.’

Earlier in the day the Labour leader hit out at Westminster’s ‘warped and degrading’ culture of sexual harassment.

Last week, Miss Etemadzadeh, now 27, said the promotion of the MP after she made her allegations left her feeling ‘powerless and isolated and alone’.

She said she complained to the whips’ office in 2015, and again in 2016 to the Labour leader’s office through a regional party office.

Mr Corbyn’s office was apparently told by party whips that Mr Hopkins had been spoken to about alleged inappropriate conduct. It was claimed that Mr Corbyn only knew about an initial text sent by Mr Hopkins, and that more claims later came to light, including that he allegedly rubbed his crotch against her.