Labour MP Jared O'Mara quits select committee role over offensive online comments

Jared O'Mara
Politics
Monday 23 October 2017 at 8:02pm

Mr O'Mara became MP for Sheffield Hallam in the June election

A Labour MP who joked about having an orgy with members of the pop group Girls Aloud has resigned from his position on the Women and Equalities select committee.

Jared O'Mara earlier apologised for the offensive comments, which emerged in a report by website Guido Fawkes, but by the evening his office confirmed that he had also quit his select committee role.

"He has decided to stand down. He has made that decision," a spokesman for the MP said.

As well as comments about Girls Aloud, Mr O'Mara had claimed Michelle McManus only won Pop Idol "because she was fat" and suggested it would be funny if jazz star Jamie Cullum was "sodomised with his own piano".

Other remarks on online message boards attributed to Mr O'Mara include the use of derogatory terms about gay people, Guido Fawkes reported.

Mr O'Mara, who ousted former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in the June election to become MP for Sheffield Hallam, made the comments in 2004.

Mr O'Mara joked about having an orgy with members of the pop group Girls Aloud Credit: PA

In his apology earlier, Mr O'Mara said:

I am deeply ashamed of the comments I made online, which have emerged today. I was wrong to make them, I understand why they are offensive and sincerely apologise for my use of such unacceptable language. I made the comments as a young man, at a particularly difficult time in my life, but that is no excuse. Misogyny is a deep problem in our society. Since making those comments 15 years ago, I have learned about inequalities of power and how violent language perpetuates them. I continue to strive to be a better man and work where I can to confront misogyny, which is why I'm so proud to sit on the Women and Equalities Select Committee. I will continue to engage with, and crucially learn from, feminist and other equalities groups so as an MP I can do whatever I can to tackle misogyny. >