Poto Williams’ statement after meeting with Willie Jackson

I met with Willie Jackson last night and we had a robust and honest conversation about the concerns I had raised last weekend. I made the offer to meet Willie and I was pleased that he accepted.

I would like to acknowledge the work of MUMA and its Violence Free programmes and I look forward to visiting them and seeing the work they do for our community.

Having spoken with Willie, I believe his apology is genuine. He realises he still has more to learn about the issues of sexual violence. In that regard I hope to help him increase his understanding and our conversations will continue. I welcome that opportunity and Willie is keen for that to occur. We are committed to working together on this.

Reducing our shocking rates of sexual and domestic violence is something I am passionate about and I am proud to be Labour’s spokesperson on these issues. It’s one of the reasons I want to change the Government and I am totally focused on helping win this election for Labour.