SIR Keir Starmer is battling a Pestminster scandal after a top Labour aide kept his job despite being found to have groped a much younger woman.
The party has upheld a complaint of sexual harassment against the senior staffer following a three-year investigation.
Sir Keir’s spokesman insisted he had a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to sexual harassment
Furious Labour MPs let rip after the unnamed man was allowed to stay in post – with the victim herself saying she had been “let down”.
According to the Politico website the woman, a former intern, complained twice after being allegedly groped by the man 20 years her senior.
It was upheld both by a parliamentary probe – who forced the man to write an apology letter – and by Labour’s own complaints processes.
Sir Keir’s spokesman insisted he had a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment but shifted responsibility onto their independent firm that deals with party allegations.
He said the outside organisation decided on the “tariff” attached to the verdict which was then accepted by the party.
The spokesman added: “It is not for any politician to second guess the process that we have in place.”
But the revelations sparked uproar among Sir Keir’s own ranks, with Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield blasting: “This is not ok. And I expect to hear it loudly condemned by my colleagues and leader Keir Starmer.”
The victim herself told Politico: “This ordeal has made me feel let down twice — by the man who chose to make me feel intimidated and vulnerable in my workplace, and by the party which appears to be content to let him keep his job and risk other young women facing the same experience.”
