MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle resigns from Labour front bench

MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has stepped down from the Labour front bench, saying he had been the victim of a ‘torrent of online hate’, two weeks after accusing JK Rowling of exploiting her sexual assault ordeal in a transgender row.

The Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven representative, who apologised for his comments towards the Harry Potter author a fortnight ago, is the latest of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s allies to depart the shadow cabinet.

Sir Keir Starmer, who replaced Mr Corbyn after the party’s disastrous general election, thanked Mr Russell-Moyle for his work as minister for air quality and the natural environment.

Mr Russell-Moyle said he told Sir Keir of his intention to stand down and support him from the backbenches on Thursday afternoon.

‘It is with regret I leave the shadow ministry, but owing to a campaign by the right-wing media my position has become untenable,’ the MP said in a statement.

‘This has unleashed a torrent of online hate and daily calls of harassment to my office, which has exposed those who work for me to abuse that would not be acceptable in any workplace.

‘It has also led to hounding and stress, from which I need a few weeks to support my team and myself to collectively recover.’

A Labour spokesman said: ‘Keir thanked Lloyd for his hard work on the frontbench and wished him well in his plans for the coming months to focus on housing and youth services.’

Mr Russell-Moyle did not specify the details of any apparent campaign against him or the abuse he has suffered.

But his resignation comes weeks after he apologised to Ms Rowling after accusing her of ‘using her own sexual assault as justification for discriminating’ against trans people.

The author found herself the subject of vicious trolling and accusations of being transphobic after responding to a headline on an online article discussing ‘people who menstruate’. In a tweet, she said: ‘I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’

Stung by criticism, the writer – whose Harry Potter books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide – sought to justify her decision to speak out in a deeply personal essay.

Recalling how the trauma of ‘a serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties’ had informed her thinking about the trans issue and women’s rights, Ms Rowling explained: ‘Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.’ 

Trans-rights activist Mr Russell-Moyle, claimed the author was ‘using her own sexual assault’ to justify her views on transgender issues in an article for left-wing magazine Tribune. 

Hitting back in a series of tweets, Ms Rowling wrote: ‘This morning, Mr Russell-Moyle issued an apology on Twitter, although he didn’t trouble to tag me in. Coincidentally, his change of heart occurred after his remarks were repeated in national newspapers with higher circulations.’ 

Last month, Sir Keir sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary after she shared an article containing an alleged anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

Labour frontbenchers denied a purge was taking place against the party left after the end of Mr Corbyn’s leadership.