London: Member of Parliament Jared O’Mara has been suspended by Labour while it investigates misogynistic and homophobic comments he is alleged to have made.
The Sheffield Hallam MP has apologised for remarks made online in 2002 and 2004, but denies some more recent allegations.
Labour is specifically investigating “comments and behaviour which have been reported from earlier this year”.
But it said other information could be taken into account.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC: “There will be a full investigation by the Labour Party and then, as a result of that, a final decision will be made about his future.”
Labour launched an inquiry on Tuesday after a woman claimed he verbally abused her in a Sheffield nightclub earlier this year.
O’Mara, who unseated Nick Clegg when he was elected MP for Sheffield Hallam in the general election in June, has vehemently denied the allegation from Sophie Evans, who said he called her “an ugly bitch” among other insults in an outburst in March.
The allegation emerged after he apologised and resigned from the women and equalities committee for making a series of misogynistic and homophobic internet postings 15 years ago.
Further online comments from the same period unearthed on Tuesday showed O’Mara making derogatory remarks about Spanish and Danish people.
Lucy Powell, the MP for Manchester Central and a former shadow education secretary, told ITV’s After The News: “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. That’s why I think he should be suspended while that investigation is taking place.”
Lisa Nandy, another former shadow cabinet minister, also told an event on Tuesday that it was clear O’Mara should have been suspended.
He has apologised for the online comments, telling a meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party on Monday evening that they were made during a particularly difficult time in his life, but then Evans’s claim emerged.
She alleges that the incident was witnessed by her friends. She told BBC2’s Daily Politics show that she had first encountered O’Mara on a dating app, and while an initial meeting “didn’t really work out” there were no hard feelings.
She said, however, that O’Mara had later abused her — before he became an MP — when she encountered him while out with friends. Asked what O’Mara said, she replied: “Obviously, some of the things aren’t broadcastable. There were some transphobic slurs in there. He called me an ugly bitch.”
A spokesman for O’Mara said: “He categorically denies the latest allegations.”
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said O’Mara had already issued “a profuse apology” for the earlier comments. He told the Press Association: “Any language like that we know is unacceptable and I’m hoping he will apologise for that.”
Asked whether there should be an investigation, McDonnell said: “That would be the normal process.”
McDonnell’s comments came as further online comments published by the Guido Fawkes website showed O’Mara discussing football in 2002. He refers to Spaniards as “dagos” and accuses a Dane of being a “pig shagger”.
Justine Greening, the minister for women and equalities, and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, called on Jeremy Corbyn to remove the whip from O’Mara. In a letter to the Labour leader, Greening said: “Violent, sexist and homophobic language must have no place in our society, and parliamentarians of all parties have a duty to stamp out this sort of behaviour wherever we encounter it, and condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
“Will you be removing the whip from him while the investigation is carried out?”
Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, said: “If he did make these remarks, Labour needs to withdraw the whip from him immediately.”
