MP Liam Byrne probe 'mistakenly' offered witnesses anonymity

Witnesses in an inquiry into bullying by Labour MP Liam Byrne were mistakenly offered anonymity, investigators said.

One former staffer who gave evidence to the inquiry said the process left people making complaints exposed.

The ex-Cabinet minister and MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill was found to have ostracised a former assistant after a minor office dispute.

Incorrect information was given to witnesses, a House of Commons spokesperson said.

The investigation began almost two years after complaints by the MP's former assistant David Barker to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).

Speaking exclusively to BBC Midlands Today, Mr Barker, who agreed to be named in the report, said other witnesses were told they would get anonymity.

"The ICGS then sent Liam an evidence bundle that contained witness statements from every single witness without any anonymity," he said.

While the former staffer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they had been assured their testimony would be anonymous.

"Knowing that [your boss] would see it would completely change what you are able to say," they said.

Another person who gave evidence said they assumed it was a mistake when they learnt the unredacted information had been sent.

"Some people [who also gave evidence] told me it had damaged their careers. I think it did mine, yeah I do," they said.

Mr Byrne said witnesses he had nominated had also been assured anonymity.

He said the way they had been "misled" was "outrageous" and that he had complained about it to both the ICGS and the panel at the time.

"Both I and Mr Barker nominated witnesses to the commissioner's investigator. I had no insight into the individuals he nominated for interview," Mr Byrne said.

"My advice to those I nominated... was simple: tell the whole truth and be completely open."

Investigators for the ICGS do not keep evidence confidential from those making a complaint or being complained about, the Commons spokesperson said.

"A mistake was made during the course of this investigation and we apologise to those who were provided with incorrect information," they added.

Extra safeguards have been put in place to stop it happening again, the spokesperson said.

David Barker began working for Liam Byrne in 2019

Mr Barker, a Labour candidate for the upcoming local elections in Birmingham on 5 May, started working for Mr Byrne in April 2019 on a series of short-term contracts but lodged his complaint about him a year later.

In his evidence to the inquiry, he said the MP began excluding him after a minor disagreement and began ignoring him in WhatsApp communications during lockdown.

The report said the MP's decision not to engage with him "was bullying" and he should have tackled the issue through a disciplinary process "not by ostracising the complainant".

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Mr Byrne, who has held his seat since 2004, served as a member of the cabinet in Gordon Brown's administration and was chief secretary to the Treasury from 2009-2010. Before that he served in a number of other ministerial jobs.

In a statement on Thursday, he said he accepted he "did not resolve the dispute correctly with a proper disciplinary process", and failed to fulfil his "obligations as an employer and Parliament's Behaviour Code".

He also accepted it was a breach of Parliament's Behaviour Code, which he said he fully supported and thanked the panel for accepting his "genuine remorse".