When the Daily Mail intended to follow up a Guido exclusive that Len McCluskey had shared a hotel room with Karie Murphy (Corbyn’s then-chief of staff), McCluskey’s consigliere and legal chief Howard Beckett immediately muscled in, insisting the story was “untrue, vexatious and malicious” and that “such allegations are open to legal action by the parties concerned”. In no uncertain terms, he threatened to sue any paper that printed the story:
“Assertions to the contrary are nothing other than malicious in intent against the character of Mr McCluskey (and Ms Murphy). They are defamatory and if printed in the form suggested by your questions then will result in litigation. Additionally, it is our clear assertion that these pictures have been taken covertly by an individual with malicious intent, and the desire to seek to sell these to hostile media. We intend to identify this individual and/or the premises concerned and take appropriate action.
Except the story wasn’t untrue or defamatory: McCluskey and Murphy were in a relationship, and the photos reflected it. Now that McCluskey has a book to sell, he’s admitted to the whole thing, claiming “we wanted our relationship to be kept private, away from the public gaze”, and that they were very much more than just “close friends“. This is why Guido’s publisher is based offshore: it protects us from lying litigants…
See: Len and Seumas in Fyne Company at New Year Bash with Karie Murphy
Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey has finally admitted to his long-suspected affair with Jeremy Corbyn’s former Chief-of-Staff Karie Murphy in his brand new book Always Red. The ‘close friends‘ had frequently been pictured together and the affair was well known if unacknowledged. Writing about the affair McCluskey explains: “we wanted our relationship to be kept private, away from the public gaze” so played a “a game of cat of mouse” with the press. Notoriously litigious Len aggressively demanded a New Statesman article be amended after the political magazine referred to Karie as his “partner” in 2017. The optics of Len sleeping with Corbyn’s left-hand woman were not great…
Using Unite’s email data McCluskey has been advertising his tell-all dossier to all 4,000 Unite branches, encouraging followers to snatch up a copy of his red book of secrets.
Surely using the membership data for book marketing is a breach of Data Protection Law?
How many more P45s can Labourites receive before Christmas?…
Much like a rail bridge to Orkney, the context of this quote from Karie Murphy doesn’t exist…
“Anyone who knows Jeremy knows he loves to go on the train to obscure places like the South West or Orkney”
The Stalinist removal of Karie Murphy as Corbyn’s Chief of Staff yesterday was both shocking and unsurprising in equal measures. While Karie’s body is still warm, Corbyn has appointed former Whitehall equalities chief, Helene Reardon Bond, as her replacement.
Other than being characteristically posh, the appointment didn’t seem particularly interesting; however, it has now come to light that Bond’s own son, Jack, has worked in Corbyn’s office – running his Twitter account for a number of years. Bond’s husband is also one of Corbyn’s drivers.
As ever with the Labour party, it’s all about who you know…
The left’s head honchos have never been adverse to a good party and this New Year was no exception with Unite boss Len McCluskey and Seumas Milne celebrating in style at the luxury Loch Fyne Hotel & Spa in Inveraray for a cool £429 a head. Len donned his not-very-proletarian black tie for the celebrations, Seumas looked more avant garde in a black turtleneck and chinos:
It wasn’t just a trip for the boys, Corbyn’s chief of staff Karie Murphy was also there to enjoy the Hogmanay celebrations on the shores of Loch Fyne. Close friends Len and Karie were spied holding hands on the way out of the bar and Guido’s kilt-wearing co-conspirator reports that the pair shared a room together. No doubt having late night policy discussions.
Len and Seumas were also spotted at what was billed as the “Chef’s Gala New Year’s Eve Dinner”.
UPDATE: The “blonde” sat opposite Seumas is apparently Samantha Hemsley, partner at Thompson’s and Unite assistant general-secretary Howard Beckett’s long term relationship.
UPDATE II: Samantha Hemsley has contacted us to make clear she did not attend the event as Seumas Milne’s guest.
“I can confirm I am not in a long term ‘relationship’ with Howard Beckett. He is a close friend.”
A previous version of this story misidentified her picture. Apologies for the confusion.
