Corbyn ally resigns
A KEY ally of Jeremy Corbyn has resigned after she was accused of threatening to smash a journalist’s face in with a bat.
The incident took place when Kate Osamor was being questioned over what she knew about her son Ishmael’s drug offences when she employed him in her parliamentary office for £50,000 a year.
Ms Osamor last night quit her role as shadow international development secretary, as criticism grew over Jeremy Corbyn not sacking her after the accusations broke yesterday morning.
The Labour MP represents Edmonton in north London and had been accused of misleading Parliament over her knowledge of her son’s offences.
Ishmael, 29, was found with drugs worth £2,500 at the Bestival music festival in Dorset in 2017 and pleaded guilty to a further four charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis on September 18, 2018.
The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports, although the prosecution accepted that he was looking after the drugs for friends and not selling. He was given a community sentence on October 19.
He worked full-time in his mother’s office and also lives with her in a £700,000 housing association property.
The Labour Party had previously claimed she did not know about her son’s case until he was sentenced. But it was claimed yesterday that she had written to the judge appealing for leniency.
Her departure is an embarrassing blow to Mr Corbyn, who had rapidly promoted her to his shadow cabinet as a leading hard-Left loyalist despite only being elected for the first time in 2015.
In a statement posted on her Twitter feed, Ms Osamor said was stepping down to “concentrate on supporting my family at this difficult time”.
The announcement follows a report that the Edmonton MP verbally abused a journalist from The Times who sought to question her about a court case involving her son.
According to the newspaper, Ms Osamor told the reporter that she “should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in”. The MP is then accused of telling the reporter to “**** off ” before allegedly throwing a bucket of water over him.
Mr Corbyn said: “I have accepted Kate Osamor’s resignation and would like to thank her for her work as our shadow secretary of state for international development. She brought a new dimension to the role by committing Labour to tackling global inequality as well as poverty as part of building a world for the many not the few.
“I know Kate will take this time to support her family, work for her constituents and support our party’s efforts to rebuild Britain from the backbenches.”
Ms Osamor was born to Nigerian parents in 1968 and brought up in Haringey in London. Her mother Martha was also a political activist and member of the Labour Party and was recently handed a peerage by Mr Corbyn.
Ms Osamor studied Third World Studies at the University of East London before working for The Big Issue and then going on to work in the NHS for 15 years as a GP practice manager.
She was first elected as MP for Edmonton in the 2015 general election and was one of 36 Labour members to nominate Mr Corbyn in the leadership contest following Ed Miliband’s resignation. In January 2016 she was made shadow women and equalities minister and the following June was promoted to shadow international development secretary after dozens of frontbenchers resigned in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
While Ishmael was facing the drugs charges, she spoke up at a party conference event that claimed “the war on drugs is collapsing”. It included a discussion on “outdated drug policies around the world”. The event, organised by development charity Health Poverty Action, and held in Liverpool on September 25, called for “a healthier debate on illicit drugs”. Ms Osamor spoke to Jeff Smith, a Labour MP, who wants the Government to “learn from progressive approaches across the world”.
The event advert said: “The socalled ‘war on drugs’ is collapsing. Countries and jurisdictions around the world are waking up to the harm that outdated drug policies are causing to health, well-being and livelihoods. Join us to discuss how Labour can shape the narrative.”
‘She allegedly threw a bucket of water’