11 minutes ago Angus Cochrane Senior political journalist, BBC Scotland Labour MSP Monica Lennon has described bullying allegations against her as a "work of fiction". Lennon condemned what she called "vexatious complaints" and "hit jobs in the media". Michael Marra, who saw off competition from Lennon to win the Scottish Labour leadership this summer, said earlier that neither the party nor its parliamentary group had received a complaint.
One staffer told The Scotsman that Lennon's office was a "toxic environment". Another alleged that the MSP "seemed to really enjoy making me feel stupid and deliberately tripped up, which was humiliating". Under Holyrood's rules, it is MSPs - not the parliament - that employs their staff.
Some staff are represented by the National Union of Journalists. The union's former Scotland organiser, Paul Holleran, told BBC Scotland News that he represented one member of Lennon's staff and negotiated an exit package for them. He explained that the complaint was not officially lodged with the party or the parliament, but it had involved allegations of bullying behaviour that had impacted on the staff member's mental health and wellbeing.
In the Scotsman report it was alleged Labour figures were aware of claims about Lennon's behaviour. Getty Images Michael Marra saw off competition from Lennon to win the Labour leadership Speaking to journalists at Holyrood, Lennon said that the "distressing allegations" made about her were "completely untrue". "I think when people make vexatious complaints or do hit jobs in the media, then that undermines genuine concerns and cases," she said.
The Glasgow MSP added: "I don't know why they're saying these things. "The parliament have been very clear to me, as has the Labour Party, that there have never been any allegations or complaints. "There's a number of anonymous quotes in the story in The Scotsman, and when you read it, it's like a work of fiction." The MSP, who was first elected in 2016, lost her seat in May's election but was reinstated to parliament after former Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar quit Holyrood to take up a seat in the House of Lords.
She attempted to win the party leadership following Sarwar's resignation but failed to secure sufficient backing from her colleagues, with Marra winning the context. 'Zero-tolerance approach' Marra said previously that Lennon would be offered a position in his frontbench team, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. He told reporters at Holyrood on Thursday morning: "My first priority in all of this is that people have a right to come to their work and to do their job, and to feel they can speak up about any issue at any time. "I spoke to Monica last night.
Obviously, after the reports came out, I can confirm that neither the Labour group or the party have complaints at the moment, and my process on this is to follow due process as we go forward." The Scottish Parliament said it would not comment on the claims. A spokesman said that it took a "zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment". They added that it was implementing the recommendations a workplace review, including the creation of a confidential HR advice service for MSP staff.
Source: BBC
