Long-serving Labour MP Nick Brown has had the whip removed after a complaint was made against him.
The member for Newcastle-upon-Tyne East, who has represented the constituency since 1983 and served as chief whip under every leader from Tony Blair onwards, has also been suspended from the party pending the outcome of an investigation into the claim.
According to reports, Brown, 72, said he was “cooperating fully” with the investigation but had not been told what the complaint against him concerned.