News / Politics
‘Corbyn should have faced industrial tribunal’
A former shadow minister has said that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would face constructive dismissal, “probably with racial discrimination thrown in”, over his treatment of her and Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire.
Chi Onwurah was given the job of shadow minister for culture and the digital economy by Corbyn in September.
In the January reshuffle he gave half the job to Debbonaire, with both women claiming that he omitted to tell either of them and when he realised what he had done, he gave the role back to Onwurah, without telling Thangam.
“So far, so annoying, but to be fair uncertainty is part of every reshuffle,” Onwurah wrote in the New Statesman.
“However, Jeremy then went on for the next two months refusing my insistence that he speak to Thangam, indeed refusing to speak to either of us, whether directly or through the shadow cabinet, the whips, or his own office. No one knew what he wanted us to do, no one was clear on what we should be doing.
“Jeremy made it impossible for two of the very few BME women MPs to do their jobs properly, undermining both us and Labour’s role as the voice of opposition to the government.”
She added: “If this had been any of my previous employers in the public and private sectors Jeremy might well have found himself before an industrial tribunal for constructive dismissal, probably with racial discrimination thrown in – given that only five per cent of MPs are black and female, picking on us two is statistically interesting to say the least.
“Indeed as Thangam was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time he could have faced disability action as well.
“In any other job I would have called on my union for support in confronting an all-white management which prevented two of its few black employees from doing their jobs. I would have expected the leader of the Labour Party to condemn such ineffectual management which allowed such abuse.”
Main photo from www.chionwurahmp.com
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