Attack in Huffington Post on Corbyn’s chief of staff last night branded ‘disgraceful’, full of ‘absolute lies’ – but positive letter from other staff barely mentioned by newspaper
An article by the Huffington Post repeated in detail an anonymous attack against Corbyn’s ‘senior management team’ – but focusing on opposition chief of staff Karie Murphy.
But it skimmed over the fact that a letter of support for Murphy and her colleagues – which was not anonymous – was signed by 21 ‘LOTO’ (leader of the Opposition’s office) staff and endorsed by three more, who were not asked to sign but said afterward that they would have.
“She was always easy to talk to when you needed her advice or help”
Of the signatories to that positive letter, eight have provided comment that they wanted on the record, which were quoted in a letter sent yesterday by Murphy’s legal team to the Huffington Post.
The quotes on record are shown in full below:
Karie has always been a very supportive boss. She was always in the office, sitting in the same place as everyone else, and was always easy to talk to when you needed her advice or help. I have never ever witnessed her behaving badly in any way.
LOTO staffer Louis Mendee
I have always found Karie to be a highly competent manager, who treats staff with respect. In a political office, things are always very busy and stressful, but she always kept her cool and dealt with problems with a good sense of humour. She is always a good laugh and jokes with everyone.
LOTO staffer Janet Chapman
“Karie was a great manager from day one.”
Since I started just under a year ago, I felt like Karie took me under her wing. She gave me a huge amount of support as I was very new to politics, and I felt she always believed in me.
LOTO staffer Sam Harney
These allegations are absolutely ridiculous. Karie brought me in to LOTO and was a great manager from day one. She always made sure I had the support and guidance that I needed, in some incredibly difficult circumstances.
LOTO staffer Joe Bradley
I’ve worked with Karie for years – in LOTO and also in another office. She has consistently been incredibly supportive of me, and has always offered advice, guidance and help. She turned LOTO around when she came in and always had a good relationship with staff.I don’t recognise these allegations at all.
Former LOTO staffer Amy Jackson
“Karie has always supported me even when things were really tough”
Karie has always been really good to work with. She totally gets what working class people especially need to succeed in politics, and always made an effort to make sure people from those backgrounds had opportunities. I’ll always appreciate the support she gave me.
LOTO staffer Tommy Kane
I really enjoy working with Karie, and she has always supported me even when things were really tough. There was one event I was trying to deliver, and everyone was saying it would fail. Karie was behind me all the way, doing everything she could to make it a success. She stuck by me and shared the load with me. It meant a lot to me.
LOTO staffer Marshajane Thompson
Since I met Karie, she’s always had my back and helped me out when I needed her. She gave good advice and made sure I had what I needed to do my job.
LOTO staffer Zeyn Mohammed
Twenty-four non-anonymous people were prepared to put their names to a letter in support of the leadership and leadership style of Jeremy Corbyn’s senior management team and repudiating the attacks on them.
The quotes above – specific to Karie Murphy, who was not named in the anonymous complaint letter – give a powerful indication of why so many staff were prepared to go on the record to defend them.
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