Another day, another drama. This time it involves a run-in between Labour peer Lord Cashman and the party’s candidate for Canterbury, Rosie Duffield – which has resulted in the Labour peer losing the whip over some rather controversial comments…
Duffield, a vocal women’s rights campaigner who has received death threats over her stance on gender issues, announced on Friday that she will withdraw from election hustings events due to safety concerns. Blasting ‘constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation’, she revealed she was ‘being pursued with a new vigour during this election’, before concluding that ‘sadly the actions of a few fixated people has made my attendance impossible’. Instead the Canterbury candidate — who told the Times last week that she has spent approximately £2,000 on bodyguards while campaigning — will hold ‘secure’ local events.
But not everyone has been sympathetic to Duffield’s woes. On the anniversary of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, Labour peer Michael Cashman took to Twitter on Saturday to slam the candidate’s fears for her safety, writing: ‘She should do the decent thing and stand down if she won’t face constituents.’ Under a BBC article on Duffield’s statement, Lord Cashman also commented: ‘Frit. Or lazy.’ Charming…
Caught out over his comments, the peer then took to Twitter on Sunday with a statement of his own. ‘I apologise unreservedly for a post that I put out regarding the Labour candidate for Canterbury,’ he said. ‘I fully understand any complaints that will be sent to the Labour Party.’ It’s hardly a full-throated apology…
And now it transpires that Sir Keir’s Labour party has removed the whip from Lord Cashman over his comments. Starmer hasn’t yet put out a statement – but he won’t be thanking the peer for his cack-handed mid-campaign intervention.
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