Female Labour ‘star’ lewdly described as a ‘secret weapon’
A SHADOW cabinet minister is at the centre of sleaze allegations after a Labour MP was told she was a “vote winner” because men want to sleep with her.
The Labour frontbencher is said to have described a female MP as a “secret weapon” because “women want to be her friend” and men want to sleep with her. The lewd comments were allegedly made to a Welsh MP who said this was not the only sexist, misogynistic behaviour she experienced in Parliament or while on parliamentary business.
The Labour MP described a conversation at an event where someone complimented her on being a “rising star”.
She told the BBC that before she could reply the shadow cabinet member had intervened to describe her as “a secret weapon”. She said the senior colleague added that “women want to be her friend” and, using a swear word, said men want to sleep with her, before adding: “She is a vote winner.”
The Labour Party said it takes complaints “extremely seriously”, adding: “They are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate action is taken.”
However, the party said it has not received any complaints about the incident and therefore cannot open an official probe.
Meanwhile, another Labour MP was yesterday suspended from the House of Commons after he was found to have bullied his staff.
Liam Byrne, a former Labour minister under Gordon Brown’s premiership, has been suspended for two days following an investigation by Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
An expert panel found that Mr Byrne abused his position of power and refused to speak to one of his constituency staff for months and denied him access to his IT account.
His victim, David Barker, 32, said that he wanted to see Labour go further and suspend him from the party.
“I’m glad this process is over after two very difficult years,” Mr Barker said.
“I hope to see UK Labour suspend him from the Labour Party and Keir Starmer withdraw the whip, calling for a by-election so we can all finally move on. Parliament deserves better, and so does Hodge Hill.”
Mr Byrne said that the incident had been a “valuable lesson” for him, and he apologised for his actions.
The complaint came about following a dispute between the two men at the constituency office, after which the MP sent Mr Barker home.
Kathryn Stone upheld a single allegation of bullying against Mr Byrne following a complaint made under Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. In total, seven complaints were made by the staff member.
The panel said Mr Byrne “sought to present his actions as a reasonable HR strategy” but “we disagree”.
“It was bullying,” the report said. Mr Barker, an active member of the Labour Party in Birmingham who is running for a council seat, told the BBC: “It’s hard to describe how difficult it was to make sense of what was going on when someone would not talk to you or not reply to you.
“Over the next two weeks I alerted him on six separate days that I’d developed every symptom of Covid and it was when he ignored me that I began to really worry that for some reason he was just going to ignore me potentially as long as the lockdown lasted. I wouldn’t say I fell out with him, we weren’t friends, he was my employer and had a duty of care.
“I raised it because I felt morally I had to raise it and I had little left to lose other than hoping that I could at least protect everyone who was left, who were all my friends.”
In a statement Mr Byrne said he was “profoundly sorry” and has apologised to Mr Barker.
“This has been a valuable lesson for me and one I am determined to learn as me and my team seek to offer the best possible service and voice for the residents of Hodge Hill.”
The GMB union, which represents Mr Barker, called for an overhaul of the way MPS’ staff are employed.
“The sanction of an apology, a recommendation for training and a suspension of just two days is far beneath what is needed to address this kind of abuse,” said Jenny Symmons, chair of the GMB union branch for members’ staff.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “The Labour Party fully supports the recommendations of this independent report, including the proposed sanction.”