Top barrister accuses Labour of ‘spin’ over NDAs gagging ex-staff

Mark Stephens says party's denials over sexual harassment claims undermine credibility of female former employees

One of the UK's most high-profile freedom of expression lawyers has accused Labour of spin and dissembling" for denying it attempted to stop two female ex-staffers from speaking about sexual harassment.

In a highly unusual intervention, Mark Stephens, who represented Georgie Robertson and Laura Murray, said there were high public interests at play" and said the party was undermining their credibility" by issuing statements denying it had tried to offer them non-disclosure agreements.