Jared O'Mara's Aide Tells Tom Swarbrick Why He Quit By Hijacking The MP's Twitter Feed
24 July 2019, 13:13
Jared O'Mara's former aide defended his decision to resign by posting a series of angry tweets on the MP's Twitter account.
Gareth Arnold, former member of Mr O'Mara's constituency staff, resigned in a thread of tweets he posted on the MP's own Twitter account, including one accusing him of showing "inexcusable contempt" for constituents.
LBC's Tom Swarbrick asked Gareth Arnold about his tweet in which he alleges that Jared O'Mara once drank "a full litre of vodka before 11am" when he did an interview with the Look North TV programme.
Gareth Arnold said before the meeting started, Jared O'Mara "just railroaded in, really drunk, making ridiculous jokes and said "I'm not doing it here, let's go to the place near where I live".
He described the MP as having been "absolutely sozzled" during the meeting.
Mr Arnold said he has only been working for the Sheffield Hallam MP for 8 weeks, but that he has known him for "several, several, several years".
Tom Swarbrick raised the point that Jared O'Mara has had certain difficulties with addiction, and asked Mr Arnold how he would respond to claims that hijacking his Twitter account and describing him as "morally bankrupt" is not what a kinder person would have done in that situation.
Mr Arnold defended himself saying he had "already tried" to speak to him about "the kinds of things he should be doing to seek help".
He claimed: "I've been the guy that managed to get his office back together, get him a new team, and get him running constituency surgeries again".
Gareth Arnold said: "I went through all the appropriate channels, I went through every single avenue, and then today when he said pretty much to me that he doesn't see anything wrong with his actions or other people that are to blame, that's just...no...not having that."
LBC invited Jared O'Mara onto the programme to respond to Gareth Arnold's claims, but did not receive a response.
