Labour frontbencher: 'No place' for suspended MP Jared O'Mara
Shadow minister Andrew Gwynne believes the MP's comments are "absolutely despicable" but denies he had prior knowledge of them.
Sunday 29 October 2017 14:38, UK
A suspended Labour MP has "no place" in Parliament over his "reprehensible" views, a shadow minister has suggested.
Shadow communities and local government secretary Andrew Gwynne claimed there is "no excuse" for comments made by Jared O'Mara, who is facing an investigation by Labour officials.
The Sheffield Hallam MP had the .
It follows the emergence of a string of Mr O'Mara's historical online comments, together with claims he used transphobic slurs and called a woman he dated an "ugly b****".
Speaking to Sky News' Sunday with Niall Paterson show, Mr Gwynne said: "I find those comments absolutely despicable.
"Let me make it absolutely clear there is no place in the Labour Party for homophobia, for sexism, for misogyny and for racism."
Asked how Mr O'Mara was able to stand as a Labour parliamentary candidate in June, Mr Gwynne - who is the party's national elections coordinator - said: "As part of the investigation we need to look at how the procedures for selection and the choice of Mr O'Mara were adhered to by the party.
"That is part of the investigation because nobody holding those views, in my view, has a place in modern democracy."
Also commenting on the row, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told the BBC the suspended MP had expressed "quite unacceptable language about women".
She said: "Where you have that sort of language and where you have that sort of harassment and sexual micro-aggression, it demeans and diminishes all women.
"That's why it's important to take a strong line."
Both Mr Gwynne and Ms Abbott denied having prior knowledge of Mr O'Mara's comments before they emerged this week.
But the wife of former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who Mr O'Mara defeated for his Sheffield Hallam seat in June's General Election, insisted the party knew about his comments before he was elected to Parliament.
Miriam Gonzalez Durantez told ITV: "The issue is not the comments he may have made.
"The issue is the Labour Party allowed a candidate to be presented as a progressive candidate when clearly he had deeply regressive views and they knew.
"They knew before the election because my husband knew and even I knew.
"So the issue there is the hypocrisy of now trying to claim that nobody knew about this."
Mr O'Mara has described himself as "deeply ashamed" of his online comments and claimed he has been on a "journey of education" since making them.
He strenuously denies claims he verbally abused a woman he met on a dating app earlier this year, branding the allegations "categorically untrue".