Labour 'knew about Jared O'Mara's offensive online comments a month ago'
2 min read
Senior figures in Labour knew about the sexist and homophobic comments made online by Jared O’Mara at least a month ago, it has been claimed.
It has also emerged that he faced no interview before he was selected as the Sheffield Hallam candidate because the party did not expect to win the seat.
The MP was suspended from the party yesterday over an allegation he called a woman an “ugly bitch” earlier this year and after fresh online comments from 2009 came to light.
A Labour spokesperson has maintained the party had no idea about the MP’s online history until it came out this week, despite press officers reportedly drafting a response in September.
An email written on 20 September and seen by the Daily Telegraph includes an on-the-record statement from Mr O’Mara pre-emptively apologising for the comments on the Drowned in Sound site.
“My language when posting on this music site 13 years ago is inappropriate. I regret the choice of words and apologise for any offence caused,” it is said to have read.
A Labour spokesperson told the paper: "The party headquarters was not informed of any of that and if it had been we would have taken action."
But the party told the Sun: “Last month, our press office received a partial report of some of Jared O’Mara’s 2004 online comments, which have subsequently received coverage in the press.”
They added: “He was spoken to by officials and subsequently issued a response that day.”
Mr O’Mara told an interview on Monday night he would have apologised for the comments if he had remembered he made them.
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