Fury as boss of Keir Starmer's 'viper's nest' union - the GMB - is accused of bullying and harassing female staffers and even told one: 'We've got better lawyers than you'

The head of Sir Keir Starmer’s union is embroiled in allegations of harassing and bullying women. After securing the £148,000-a-year job, Mr Smith was secretly recorded warning a female employee ‘we’ve got better lawyers than you’ after she brought a sexual harassment claim against another official. GMB head Gary Smith has been accused of harassing and bullying female reps Sir Keir Starmer with GMB general secretary Gary Smith at the Union's 2023 congress. The probe found that the two senior male figures told Ms Chandler’s new boss: ‘Your first job will be to sack Anne Chandler.’ In a letter to Ms Chandler, the regional GMB secretary who carried out the investigation admitted: ‘The fact that the two senior organisers are men seeking to influence a third male senior organiser against a woman officer colleague is deeply concerning.’ Anne Chandler, 69, an official who claimed she was forced out in 2022 after 25 years, said the GMB was ‘riddled with sexism’ A female rep in the GMB, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussions, said the union was full of ‘scared people’ who were ‘frightened of being suspended if they say anything’. Another, who has worked in the union movement for three decades, said: ‘The amount of fear from people is just horrible.’ Our shocking exposé comes after a damning 2020 report into the GMB concluded that ‘bullying, misogyny, cronyism, and sexual harassment were endemic’, and branded the union ‘institutionally sexist’.