Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski 'let town down' with bullying, says Labour group chairman
Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski has let the town down following his apology for bullying, says the chairman of the constituency's Labour group.
Mr Kawczynski, the town's Tory MP, apologised in the House of Commons this week for bullying parliamentary committee staff as he tried to access a meeting online. A report said he had consumed a "significant amount of alcohol".
Now Wynn Davies, chair of the Shrewsbury and Atcham Constituency Labour Party, has heaped criticism on Mr Kawczynski.
He said: "Once again the constituency of Shrewsbury & Atcham has been seriously embarrassed by our MP.
WATCH MP's Commons apology:
"We are sure we speak for the vast majority of his constituents when we say that we are extremely upset by his appalling behaviour. The fact that he has been forced to offer an apology for bullying in the House of Commons speaks for itself.
"However this is made worse by the fact that initially, rather than accepting the sanction imposed, he appealed against it - an appeal that was rejected.
"Adding to Shrewsbury’s embarrassment is the fact that Kathryn Stone, Parliament’s commissioner for standards, said that he showed 'a worrying lack of insight and contrition' during oral interviews.
"This is another example of Mr Kawczynski letting down the people of Shrewsbury."
A disciplinary report said the Shrewsbury and Atcham MP consumed a "significant amount of alcohol" on the day and phoned the manager of the committee staff while under the influence, behaviour that was "grossly unprofessional".
The incident occurred in April 2020, as Parliament was adapting to new remote working during the coronavirus lockdown.
