Is the Liberal Democrat party really all that liberal? Mr S isn’t quite so sure – after speaking to an ex-Lib Dem staffer who is taking legal action against the party for ‘discrimination, harassment and victimisation’. The former caseworker, who is using the pseudonym Amelia Sparrow, was dismissed after three days of working for a Lib Dem MP for ‘dishonesty’ – yet believes it was down to pressure put on her boss after she didn’t keep schtum about her gender-critical views. How curious…
Other staffers were less fussed about airing their views – reportedly labelling Baroness Hayter ‘transphobic’ and calling Joanna Cherry a ‘transphobe’.
Having previously worked at a different party, Sparrow says she left her old caseworker role after feeling ‘politically homeless’. Moving to the Lib Dems, she picked up a similar job – where she was expected to draft responses to constituents along party lines, checking what her MP’s stance was on more sensitive issues including trans rights. Sparrow had been open about her views on gender with her MP but was keen not to let them impact her work, meeting minutes seen by Mr S reveal. The politician told her this wasn’t a problem – but advised the staffer that the colleagues they shared an office with had more ‘progressive’ views on the trans debate and warned against creating a hostile environment for others.
Other staffers were less fussed about airing their views – reportedly labelling Baroness Hayter ‘transphobic’ and calling SNP MP Joanna Cherry a ‘transphobe’. Sparrow spoke up on the latter comment, insisting that Cherry is a ‘women’s rights activist’. But if more people shared Sparrow’s views, they didn’t make it obvious. Attending a ‘Sex Matters’ event in the same week, she noticed that politicians and peers from across the house were in attendance – although, Mr S notes, she said she spotted no Liberal Democrats MPs.
Things went south when, on Sparrow’s fourth day in the office, she was pulled onto an online meeting with her MP. She was the subject of an email complaint – which she believes was sent from the Chief Whip’s office – that stated Sparrow had got into ‘verbal disagreements’ and left other colleagues ‘feeling uncomfortable’. (Sparrow disputes the allegations.) Yet she only caught sight of the email complaint after the Free Speech Union helped her submit a Subject Access Request when the whole process had concluded. During the first meeting, the former staffer says she was not given details about the complaint and was instead asked to guess what it concerned. Telling her boss she had praised an ‘SNP MP’s stance on human rights’, Sparrow was accused of dishonesty in a second meeting because she had not specified the politician was Joanna Cherry. She was subsequently dismissed for ‘unsatisfactory conduct’ – related entirely to alleged omissions from her first, informal conversation on the matter.
Sparrow appealed her dismissal, outlining ACAS guidance that states:
Most disciplinary situations will not require suspension. It should only be considered exceptionally if there is a serious allegation of misconduct.
The former staffer was told that different rules applied given she was still within her probationary period. ‘I was devastated,’ Sparrow confessed to Mr S. She went on to express a rather lot of concern about her MP’s apparent U-turn on her beliefs after the complaint had come in – and added that had she been given more details of the original complaint in the initial meeting, she could have responded more specifically. The Lib Dems have since said: ‘We dispute this crowdjustice description and hope it will be resolved soon.’
‘I was devastated,’ Sparrow confessed. She went on to express concern about her MP’s apparent U-turn on her beliefs after the complaint had come in
But now, Sparrow is taking the matter to an employment tribunal. Regardless of the outcome she says she wants to raise awareness of how the Liberal Democrats have treated herself and others who have freely expressed their own more socially conservative beliefs. Former BBC journalist David Campanale made headlines (and Douglas Murray’s Spectator column) for suing the Lib Dems for allegedly deselecting him from the Sutton and Cheam seat because he is a practising Christian – with the Bishop of Winchester lending him his support. And Natalie Bird, a Liberal Democrat member since 2015, was ‘hounded’ out of internal roles within the party and accused of ‘dangerous transphobia’ by transactivists after saying she didn’t believe transwomen should have access to women’s refuges.
The Lib Dems say on Campanale’s case that ‘all of our London MPs are church-going Christians’ and that their ‘national selection process is run by the Rev. Margaret Joachim’. On Bird’s, the party refers back to its own guidelines, that state under the Equality Act, ‘whether in internal debates or public, holding and expressing gender critical views is protected by law’. Sparrow isn’t convinced, however: ‘What’s the point in the Equality Act if no one is upholding it?’
Just days ago, Sir Ed Davey gave an interview in which he insists: ‘I have never believed in no platforming.’ How interesting. Mr S is rather sure those affected by the above cases may feel more than a little sceptical about the Lib Dem leader’s claims…
Sparrow has since been offered work experience by MPs from other parties but says she has been let down by her treatment in the Liberal Democrat offices. ‘I thought the Lib Dems were about debating the idea not the person,’ she told Mr S. So much for liberalism, eh? Perhaps Sir Ed Davey’s party should consider a name change…
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
