Huddersfield Labour Party complains over MP's tweets

A formal complaint has been made against Barry Sheerman by his constituency Labour Party

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman is facing censure from members of his own constituency Labour Party.

It follows tweets sent by the veteran parliamentarian which provoked a backlash from many people who claimed they were anti-Semitic in tone.

Now the constituency Labour Party has made a formal complaint to senior party figures, including Sir Keir Starmer.

Chairman of the constituency party Paul Cooney said this would "enable an investigation".

Mr Cooney wrote: "It's been brought to our attention that our MP, Barry Sheerman, posted a number of tweets which could be in breach of the guidance in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition on anti-Semitism."

Screenshots were attached to the email.

He added: "It is our duty to report this to the party to enable an investigation into this matter."

'Frank discussion'

Writing to local members he said the executive felt it had "a duty" to report Mr Sheerman's tweets for investigation, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

He added: "It was also agreed that I speak to Barry about it and to get him to write to you all and apologise for this.

"We also recommended that he suspend his Twitter account, something which we had previously suggested to him on other occasions recently.

"I had a frank discussion with Barry, where he agreed to send a letter to all Huddersfield constituency Labour Party members, which you should be in receipt of, and to stop using his Twitter account and to have a period of reflection."

Mr Sheerman angered some people when he commented on perceived cronyism following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's latest appointments to the House of Lords.

Mr Sheerman later described his tweets as "absolutely stupid".

Asked to comment on Mr Cooney's email, Mr Sheerman said he had always tried to work with his constituency chairman during the time that he had been in post.

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