Labour official ‘told party activist not to report rape’
Sex scandal sweeps across Parliament as Corbyn calls inquiry and Tories are named in ‘dossier’
Laura Hughes, Kate Mccann, Steven Swinford and Gordon Rayner THE focus of the Westminster sexual harassment scandal switched to Labour last night as it was claimed that party officials hushed up the rape of a young activist.
Bex Bailey, 25, said senior Labour figures told her not to report the attack by a fellow activist at a party event six years ago because it could damage her political career.
Ms Bailey, who waived the anonymity that was her right as a victim of rape, is one of the first women to speak out about such a serious sexual assault since reports of harassment swept through Parliament, and has been widely praised for coming forward.
Labour immediately announced an independent investigation into Ms Bailey’s claim that a senior staff member told her to keep quiet when she told them about the incident two years after it happened.
In a Facebook post last night, the Young Labour Women group said: “Unfortunately, we fully expect this will not be an isolated incident.”
Meanwhile, the deputy prime minister was last night being investigated over allegations by a Tory activist, who accused him of making an untoward advance during a meeting in a bar.
Damian Green was referred to the Cabinet Secretary by Downing Street after Kate Maltby, 31, claimed that he had placed a “fleeting hand” on her knee as they discussed her career and sexual affairs within parliament.
Last night a Downing Street spokesman said: “An allegation has been made in relation to the First Secretary of State, which he strongly denies.
“The Prime Minister has referred the matter to the Cabinet Secretary to establish the facts and report back as soon as possible.”
The Times also claims to have seen a message sent to Ms Maltby by Mr Green last year, in which he wrote: “Having admired you in a corset in my favourite tabloid, I feel impelled to ask if you are free for a drink anytime?” The incident is alleged to have happened before Mr Green became a minister.
Mr Green last night said that allega- tions that he made sexual advances towards Ms Maltby were “absolutely and completely untrue”. He added that they had come as a “complete shock” and were “deeply hurtful”.
He also denied putting his hand on her knee, and claimed that she had never suggested that she had any political ambitions.
Mr Green has now instructed lawyers Kingsley Napley to fight what he describes as defamation.
Downing Street said Theresa May retained “confidence in her Government and her ministers” after it emerged that Cabinet ministers and other members of the Government were among those accused of sexual harassment in a dossier of 40 Conservative MPS.
The Daily Telegraph can disclose that a former Tory minister is said to have
boasted to female staff about having sex with other women in his office, and was later promoted despite party whips being aware of his “problematic” behaviour.
The MP in question is said to have made “constant” comments to female staff about sex, told one he had intercourse on her desk, and invited them back to his constituency home. One woman said she stopped working for the MP because she did not feel comfortable being left alone with him but felt there was no one to whom she could complain.
Meanwhile, the so-called “sex dossier” was published in full by several Twitter users yesterday, despite the libellous nature of many allegations that have been denied by MPS when approached by journalists. It was also published without any deletions by a mainstream American news website.
While dozens of those on the list are accused of “inappropriate” behaviour, others such as Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, are included for doing nothing more than having consensual relationships with colleagues.
Ms Bailey was 19 when she was raped in 2011 by a senior Labour Party figure – who was not an MP – at a Labour Party event.
She told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that when she managed to “summon the courage” to report the incident to a senior party official two years later, she was told not to take the issue further.
Ms Bailey, a former member of the National Executive Committee, Labour’s ruling body, has since tried to introduce measures to make it easier to report abuse but encountered repeated “hurdles”.
She said: “It took me a while to summon up the courage to tell anyone in the party, but when I did I told a senior member of staff who ... suggested to me that I not report it.”
Asked if she was told reporting the attack might damage her “progression within the party”, she replied: “I would assume so, yes.”
She added: “I don’t think I was even given a cup of tea at the time ... it was quite a cold, horrible experience.”
Asked about the complaints procedure in the party, she said: “It seemed to be that there wasn’t one that existed and I wasn’t signposted to anyone else that could help me in terms of a charity or anything like that.”
She explained she did not report the attack at the time it happened because she felt “ashamed” and feared it would become the subject of “gossip”. She did not tell the police because she feared she would not be believed.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said: “Bex Bailey has shown incredible bravery by talking publicly about what has happened to her and has my full support and solidarity.
“I have asked Labour’s general secretary, Iain Mcnicol, to launch an independent investigation into the allegations that she wasn’t given the support from the party she should have received. There will be no tolerance in the Labour Party for sexism, harassment or abuse.”