Monday, July 30, 2018
Second Labour MP targetted for confronting anti-Semitism
Hot on the heels of Margaret Hodge confronting Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons over anti-Semitism, the Independent reports that another Labour MP is to face disciplinary action for calling into question his party's record on this issue.
The paper says that Ian Austin, a former minister who lost family members in the Holocaust, was sent a letter from Labour bosses saying he was being investigated for “abusive conduct” in parliament, which could result in suspension from the party.
They say that the row stems from a "heated discussion" between the Dudley MP and Labour chairman Ian Lavery on the party's new code of conduct, which has prompted a major backlash in the Jewish community:
Labour has become embroiled in a bitter row over changes to its party rulebook, which centre on whether it should adopt in full an internationally recognised definition of antisemitism.
The party faced a major backlash from the Jewish community when its national executive committee (NEC) voted to adopt a code that did not directly include four of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) 11 examples of anti-Semitic behaviour.
Party officials insist these examples are covered elsewhere in the document, which “expands and contextualises” the definition.
Mr Austin, a vocal critic of the Labour leader, said the party had become "more extreme" during Mr Corbyn's tenure and accused him of "supporting and defending" anti-Semites.
He denied "screaming abuse" but told the BBC's The World this Weekend said: "I said that I thought the NEC's decision was a disgrace.
"Am I upset about antisemitism? Yes I am. I am upset about that and I'm upset as well about the leadership's failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly.
"I grew up listening to my dad tell me how he'd escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered in Treblinka [the concentration camp] and that led to me joining the Labour Party as a teenager determined to fight racism.
"I'm really shocked that a party that has got a proud tradition throughout its entire existence of fighting racism has ended up causing such huge offence and distress to the Jewish community in Britain."
Considering that they are trying to put the anti-Semitism row behind them, Labour are doing a really good job of digging themselves even deeper into the hole they have created for themselves on this issue.
The paper says that Ian Austin, a former minister who lost family members in the Holocaust, was sent a letter from Labour bosses saying he was being investigated for “abusive conduct” in parliament, which could result in suspension from the party.
They say that the row stems from a "heated discussion" between the Dudley MP and Labour chairman Ian Lavery on the party's new code of conduct, which has prompted a major backlash in the Jewish community:
Labour has become embroiled in a bitter row over changes to its party rulebook, which centre on whether it should adopt in full an internationally recognised definition of antisemitism.
The party faced a major backlash from the Jewish community when its national executive committee (NEC) voted to adopt a code that did not directly include four of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) 11 examples of anti-Semitic behaviour.
Party officials insist these examples are covered elsewhere in the document, which “expands and contextualises” the definition.
Mr Austin, a vocal critic of the Labour leader, said the party had become "more extreme" during Mr Corbyn's tenure and accused him of "supporting and defending" anti-Semites.
He denied "screaming abuse" but told the BBC's The World this Weekend said: "I said that I thought the NEC's decision was a disgrace.
"Am I upset about antisemitism? Yes I am. I am upset about that and I'm upset as well about the leadership's failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly.
"I grew up listening to my dad tell me how he'd escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered in Treblinka [the concentration camp] and that led to me joining the Labour Party as a teenager determined to fight racism.
"I'm really shocked that a party that has got a proud tradition throughout its entire existence of fighting racism has ended up causing such huge offence and distress to the Jewish community in Britain."
Considering that they are trying to put the anti-Semitism row behind them, Labour are doing a really good job of digging themselves even deeper into the hole they have created for themselves on this issue.
