Activist expresses anger at Labour for allowing accused MP to question her on sexual harassment claims

A young activist who accused a Labour MP of sexual harassment has hit out at the party for allowing him to question her over her allegations.

Ava Etemadzadeh expressed her dismay when it emerged that Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins would be allowed to submit questions to the Labour investigation into her claims that the veteran politician had rubbed himself against her and sent her a series of inappropriate messages.

Mr Hopkins - who was suspended from the party at the height of the Westminster sexual harassment scandal - was also accused of misconduct by Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, who claimed he sent her unwanted notes and card over a 20-year period. He denies the allegations.

A formal investigation is underway into both complaints but Ms Etemadzadeh said she was informed by a Labour official that Mr Hopkins would be able to quiz her by audio-link from another room as part of the disciplinary hearing.

Ms Etemadzadeh, 27, posted on Twitter: "Jeremy Corbyn has kept me anxious and waiting over my complaint, now his team suggests I should face live questions from my harasser.

"In the interest of future victims, I have made it clear to Labour that under no circumstances will I participate in any meeting of this nature."

Labour insists that Mr Hopkins will not be able to respond to her directly, and it is understood that he can prepare written questions that will be read the complainants at the party's constitutional committee.

However asked by Labour MP Jess Phillips whether it was a mistake, Ms Etemadzadeh produced emails appearing to show that the original idea had been to let Mr Hopkins grill his accusers by audio-link from another room.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “The process does not allow respondents to respond directly to complainants.

“The Labour Party takes all complaints of harassment extremely seriously, which are fully investigated in line with due process and natural justice as part of our disciplinary procedure.”

Mr Hopkins was originally suspended from the party after Ms Etemadzadeh claimed she had received messages from him in 2015 saying she was "a lovely young woman - attractive, intelligent, charming and sweet natured" and expressing his sadness that he was too old to be her "lover".

He allegedly added: "A nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover. I am sure one such is soon to be found. Were I to be young…but I am not."

It comes after an internal survey uncovered more than 40 allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by female party members, who described being groped, sexually harassed and even raped at Labour events.

Campaign group LabourToo called on the party to establish an independent complaints process and put in place compulsory training for all party staff and representatives.

Labour made clear that it welcomed the report, which will be fed into an ongoing review into its procedures for dealing with sexual harassment. It has appointed top QC Karon Monaghan to conduct the probe.