Liam Byrne set to be suspended from Commons for two days for bullying

Liam Byrne is set to be suspended from the Commons after an inquiry found that the Labour MP had “abused his position of power” by “ostracising” a member of his staff between March and July 2020.

The independent expert panel today recommended that Byrne be suspended for two days, issue an apology and undergo training to address the “causes of his behaviour” following a “dispute” between Byrne and staff member David Barker.

According to the investigation Byrne sent Barker, a worker in his constituency office, home following the dispute and then stopped contact with Barker and denied him access to his parliamentary IT account. The panel found that Byrne conducted “malicious behaviour that involved a significant misuse of power”.

“This case involves a serious breach of the bullying and harassment policy which arose from the respondent abusing his position of power and ostracising the complainant, who was his employee,” a sub-panel concluded.

“The impact of this behaviour was compounded by the fact that it occurred during the first period of lockdown when the complainant was physically separated from work colleagues, uncertain of his future work status and had undergone a period of ill health.”

According to the sub-panel, Byrne “sought to present his actions as a reasonable HR strategy”, but the panel said: “We disagree. It was bullying. He should, as he now accepts, have tackled any misconduct through a proper disciplinary process not by ostracising the complainant.”

The GMB branch for members’ staff, representing Barker, said Byrne’s sanction is “far beneath what is needed” to address such behaviour and called for a significant overhaul of the employment system for MPs.

Branch chair Jenny Symmons said: “We resoundingly condemn the despicable behaviour of Liam Byrne MP, who showed David a complete lack of respect or regard while in his employment.

“We welcome the decision to uphold our member’s complaint of serious bullying and harassment. However, the sanction of an apology, a recommendation for training and a suspension of just two days is far beneath what is needed to address this kind of abuse.

“The experience Mr Barker had while working for Liam Byrne MP was horrendous, but sadly not uncommon. MPs have a duty of care for their staff which we see violated time and time again. It’s time we removed the responsibility of employment from MPs for good and give staff the safety and security at work they deserve.”