MP who threatened reporter criticises press

A FORMER Labour frontbencher who threatened a journalist reporting on her son’s conviction for drugs offences, as she continued to employ him as her parliamentary aide, has signed a letter accusing newspapers of racism and demanding tighter press regulation.

Kate Osamor, who resigned as the shadow international development secretary in December, signed the Hacked Off letter to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) demanding an end to “racist and faithbased attacks in the media”.

The letter was co-signed by 50 people including Naz Shah, the shadow equalities minister suspended for three months in 2016 in a row over anti-semitism. There is no mention of anti-semitism in the Hacked Off complaints, which reference headlines relating to Muslims, migrants and members of the black and minority ethnic community.

The letter, written in partnership with the Media Diversity Institute and posted on Twitter yesterday, criticised Ipso for upholding only one of 8,000 complaints made about discrimination in the press in a year.

Ms Osamor, the Labour MP for Edmonton, north London, employed her 29-year-old son Ishmael as her senior communications officer. He was given a community sentence on Oct 19 after being caught with drugs worth £2,500.

The National Union of Journalists criticised Ms Osamor over allegations she threw a bucket of water at a reporter and threatened him with a bat.