Conservative MP Ben Overweight-Jecty has written to the parliamentary commissioner for requirements, Daniel Greenberg, over the matter.
Mr McMurdock was beforehand a Reform UK MP, however suspended himself from Nigel Farage’s celebration after allegations emerged over COVID loans he claimed. There was controversy over his choice as a Reform candidate after it emerged he was jailed in 2006 for assaulting his then-girlfriend.
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Picture:
Sky Information political correspondent Mhari Aurora
In his letter shared on social media, Mr Overweight-Jecty outlined how Mr McMurdock posted the only letter “N” below an X submit that was vital of Aurora.
Mr Overweight-Jecty explains the idea of an “N-Tower”, saying it “is a means of using a racial slur against an individual on an online platform whilst circumventing moderation that would remove racially abusive content”.
“The practice involves spelling out a racial slur vertically with each individual posting a single letter of the word in order to spell it vertically.”
On this case, the slur was the n-word, with the letters showing in subsequent posts below Mr McMurdock’s first on X over roughly half-hour.
Mr McMurdock later seems to have deleted his submit, Mr Overweight-Jecty says.
Picture:
Ben Overweight-Jecty. Pic: Parliament
Mr McMurdock appeared to disclaim he made the submit, sharing a screenshot of X’s AI assistant Grok claiming he by no means posted the letter N, based mostly on a screenshot of the N-Tower. Grok is a big language mannequin, which is thought to be inaccurate.
He added that Mr Overweight-Jecty’s “complaint regarding the alleged posting of a single letter is beyond ridiculous”.
Mr McMurdock then claimed he believed the Conservative MP had damaged the legislation by “writing the N-word in full” – saying this was “offensive, indecent and obscene”.
In his letter, Mr Overweight-Jecty tells the commissioner he believes what occurs breaches the Commons code – particularly that “members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its members generally”.
He additionally says the actions “reflect a lack of adherence” to the seven ideas of public life.
Mr Overweight-Jecty says by “deleting the post without challenging the subsequent spelling” that was began by him, Mr McMurdock confirmed a “failure to challenge poor behaviour” and “absence of moral courage”.
He calls on the commissioner to ask Mr McMurdock to make clear what his intentions have been with the unique submit, and to share his archive of social media posts.
Mr Overweight-Jecty provides: “Having repeatedly experienced this specific type of online racial abuse myself I am horrified that a fellow member of parliament would apparently see this as a legitimate means of challenging a Westminster lobby journalist in a public forum.
“I sincerely hope that there’s a coherent and plausible clarification for this horrendous motion.”
The Conservative MP posted the letter on social media, saying: “There should be no place in Parliament for those who use their position to target, and attempt to intimidate, a free press.
“I welcome a transparent and credible clarification from James McMurdock that illustrates how his obvious half on this unacceptable abuse was a misunderstanding and would encourage him to sentence one of these abuse within the strongest attainable phrases.”
