Top Labour MP calls for Jared O'Mara suspension during sexism probe
2 min read
A top Labour MP last night called for Jared O’Mara to be suspended from the party during an official investigation into an alleged sexist incident.
Former frontbencher Lucy Powell said she could not understand why the Sheffield Hallam MP had signed a candidacy form claiming nothing in his past could bring the party into disrepute.
It comes after the party launched a probe into a claim he called a woman an “ugly bitch” in a nightclub in March. Mr O’Mara denies the allegation.
He has already quit the Women and Equalities Committee over sexist and homophobic comments he made online some 15 years ago, after they were unearthed by the Guido Fawkes website.
Ms Powell told ITV last night: "One of the key questions you're asked when you become a candidate for the Labour party - and you have to sign a contract to say this - is there anything in your past that would bring the party into disrepute?
"And I don't understand, in all honesty, how Jared could have signed that paper.”
The ex-shadow education secretary added: “That's why I think he should be suspended while that investigation is taking place."
On Monday night Mr O’Mara gave an unreserved apology and said he was “deeply ashamed of the man I was 15 years ago”.
“The culture I grew up in was very different… it was lad culture and football and all that. I got swept up with it and it warped my mindset,” he told Huck magazine.
“It turned me into a bitter and spiteful person, if I’m being honest."
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