Dear Friend,

Some of you may have seen a lot of social media traffic around a Daily Express article which claims that a group of Labour MPs have apparently been meeting in a B & B in Sussex to ‘plot against the leadership’.

Unfortunately, my name features in the list of MPs who have allegedly been engaged in this activity.

I have no idea whether or not any such meetings have been taking place, but I can categorically assure you that I have never and would never take part.

In fact, the only time I’ve ever been to Sussex is when Party conference is taking place in Brighton!

It’s very disappointing, but not surprising, that the Express has chosen to mention my name, even though I had explicitly informed the ‘journalist’ who wrote this article that I had no idea what he was talking about. But that, I’m afraid, simply reflects that The Express is one of the worst examples of a gutter newspaper that we have.

Yours fraternally,

Stephen.