TWICE defeated Labour Warrington South Parliamentary candidate Nick Bent has sent a formal complaint to the Speaker of the House of Commons about MP Helen Jones following comments she made in a speech in Parliament.
He says he has also made a formal request to the general secretary of the Labour Party calling for an inquiry into the Warrington North MP with a view to her being expelled from the party, along with her husband, Mike Vobe and son, Chris Vobe.
In her speech, during a Commons debate on intimidation in public life, Ms Jones accused Mr Bent of sending her abusive emails and text messages and also abusing her staff, her family and her constituency chairman and sending abusive emails to women councillors in Warrington.
Mr Bent – a Labour parish councillor at Stockton Heath – immediately denied the allegations and criticised the MP for “hiding behind Parliamentary privilege.”
Now, in a letter to Speaker of the House John Bercow and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, he has made formal complaints about Ms Jones’ alleged abusive behaviour, mis-use of House of Commons resources and abuse of Parliamentary privilege.
He says: “In the light of recent reports about shocking behaviour by some MPs (including the official report by Dame Laura Cox), I trust that my complaints will be investigated properly and appropriate action taken.
“As a minimum I ask that you remind Helen Jones of the rules of the House about MP’s conduct.”
Mr Bent said he had also sent his complaints to IPSA – the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
He said he had also made formal requests to the general secretary of the Labour Party, Jennie Formby, and the chairman of the Labour National Executive committee, Wendy Nichols, asking them to hold an inquiry into Helen Jones and her family, with a view to them being expelled from the party.
Ms Jones said: “Mr Bent has made a number of wide-ranging allegations about me which are untrue or wholly misleading. I strongly object to the manner in which he is irresponsibly disseminating these untrue and damaging statements. I understand the Speaker has responded to Mr Bent informing him that these are not matters the Speaker would be involved in.”
