Labour MP Ed Miliband dragged into the Westminster harassment scandal after claim of abuse within his team
ED Miliband was personally dragged into the Westminster harassment scandal last night after a complaint about abuse within his own team.
An aide to the ex-Labour chief was accused of closing an office door and lunging a female colleague — prompting “deep concern” from the failed opposition boss.
An ex-Commons researcher said a member of Mr Miliband’s staff took her into an empty room, asked if she could keep a secret and then tried to kiss her.
The accusation comes just a week after Labour were rocked by a claim a young activist Bex Bailey said she was raped but encouraged not to report the crime.
Both incidents are said to have taken place during Mr Miliband’s disastrous tenure as Leader of the Opposition.
The woman, whose identity was concealed by BBC Radio 4 and was referred to by the false name Susan, did not inform Mr Miliband or make a complaint at the time.
She told the PM programme: “I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m going to be fired’. I thought he was going to be angry that I rebuffed his advance and there might be consequences for me. I thought the best thing to protect my position was not to say anything.”
The woman said she would have liked to have been able to complain to an independent body, as she believed that if she reported it to the party, “they would close ranks on me as my position was very junior”.
Last night Mr Miliband - who led Labour from 2010 to 2015 - said he was “deeply concerned to hear about this allegation of totally unacceptable behaviour”.
He added: “I would strongly encourage the individual concerned to use the complaints process of the Labour Party to take her allegation forward. She should receive the support she has a right to expect.”
