Labour MP Liam Byrne faces two-day suspension from the Commons for bullying a staff member
Liam Byrne #LiamByrne
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Former minister Liam Byrne faces a two-day suspension from the House of Commons after an investigation found he bullied a member of staff.
The Labour MP had ostractised a constituency worker, David Barker, between March 20 and the end of July 2020. Byrne stopped contacting Barker and disabled his Parliamentary email account for a period, according to the investigation.
The removal of access to the email account led to a “punitive” effect on Barker, as it denied him access to his final payslips, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found.
As a result, the Independent Expert Panel recommended the Labour MP should be suspended, make a written apology to the former employee, and take management training.
In a statement, Byrne said he was genuinely remorseful for the incident, and accepted he failed “to fulfill my obligations as an employer and Parliament’s Behaviour Code.”
“This constituted an ostracism which was a breach of Parliament’s Behaviour Code which I strongly support, and caused distress for which I am profoundly sorry. I have apologised in full to the individual concerned,” he said.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the panel for recognising the genuine remorse I felt about the impact on the individual concerned, the steps I have already taken to ensure this never happens again along with the work still to do, and for concluding that I did not deliberately act to delay the investigation.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said the party supported the recommendations of the report and the two-day suspension, according to Politico.
Separately, Conservative MP Jamie Wallis was charged with several driving offences following a car crash last November.
Wallis, who recently came out as trans, was charged with failing to stop after a car crash, failing to report the crash, careless driving, and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position.
In a statement in March, the MP said he had fled the scene because he was suffering from PTSD, triggered by a rape.