In an explosive story broken this evening, the Independent reveals that Baroness Alicia Kennedy, chief of staff Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson, was accused of bullying and targeting a black Watson staffer – who also claims she was made redundant because she is black.

Kennedy is a former deputy general secretary of the party and considered a member of the West Midlands Labour right ‘royalty’.

Tom Watson has called for the summary suspension of a whole CLP (constituency Labour party) for bullying – merely for tabling motions of no confidence against an MP, even though there was no evidence that the CLP had acted wrongly.

Yet when his chief of staff, , was the subject of detailed allegations of bullying, harassment and possible racism toward a black colleague, Watson was not hammering down the door of Labour’s Southside HQ demanding her suspension.

On the contrary, he appears not to have acted at all.

A source close to Baroness Kennedy’s told the Independent the allegations were ‘untrue and highly damaging’.

Watson – who earlier today stormed out of a Shadow Cabinet meeting – has been accused of ‘foul’ and ‘appalling’ behaviour during inappropriate interventions recently in cases involving his allies or opponents. He was also accused by a woman councillor in his home borough of Sandwell of making her ‘life a misery’ by bullying her.

He has not responded when asked to comment.

The case will be heard by an employment tribunal in September.

SKWAWKBOX comment:

Baroness Kennedy has not yet been ‘found guilty’ of anything and must be afforded due process in full. But she must certainly be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation – and Tom Watson must answer for his failure to act and his double-standards on disciplinary matters.

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