Labour MP reveals fresh sex abuse allegations after activist Bex Bailey’s rape account
Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to set up a new independent system to make victims feel confident about being heard
A SENIOR LABOUR MP revealed they had received new sex abuse claims after activist Bex Bailey’s rape account.
The MP said other workers and party members were telling of their experiences.
And they demanded Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn move to set up a new independent reporting system so the victims could feel confident about being heard.
The MP asked to remain anonymous.
It came as staffers claimed cover-ups in the party were endemic with other victims told to keep quiet in the past.
Anoosh Chakelian, a correspondent at the left-leaning New Statesman, said she had heard of other “allegations of sexual misconduct that the party advised women to drop”.
She added that Labour employees did not feel confident enough to use the current complaints procedure or go to the party’s National Executive Committee.
And a staffer told the Politico website: “It’s endemic. A friend had the same experience – serious sexual harassment from an MP.
“The party did nothing. It’s never been in anyone’s interests to sort it out.”
Labour said it took “all complaints of sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination extremely seriously”.
Ms Bailey said on Tuesday she had been raped in 2011 – but advised against reporting it by a senior Labour official she told two years later.
Her former boss, Labour MP Liz Kendall, urged Labour to find out why Bex Bailey had been let down and to ensure the culture in the party changed.
Fellow backbencher Lucy Powell said the PM and Jeremy Corbyn had to act quickly or risk being seen as being more interested in “trying to kill a story”.
Yvette Cooper, former Shadow Home Secretary, said Labour had to have a contract with either a “charity or an independent sexual violence adviser” who could come in and support those who suffer abuse.
She told the BBC: “You’ve got somebody you can go and report to who you know is not going to be a friend of the person who you might be making the complaint about, and also to provide the support that if it’s needed.”
