Labour officials have today stepped up their investigations into allegations of inappropriate behaviour against two MPs.
The party announced this afternoon that it would be referring Ivan Lewis and Kelvin Hopkins to their constitutional committee for a full hearing into complaints lodged against them.
Former shadow culture secretary Mr Hopkins has denied allegations made against him by Ava Etemadzadeh.
The 27-year-old claims the MP for Luton North acted inappropriately and sent her suggestive text messages after they met at an event at the University of Essex in 2014.
Ms Etemadzadeh was chair of the university’s Labour society at the time.
Mr Hopkins was reprimanded after Ms Etemadzadeh initially complained in 2015, but was later promoted by Jeremy Corbyn to his shadow cabinet.
The long-serving left-winger, 76, is now suspended from the party pending investigation of Ms Etemadzadeh’s complaint.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here