Councillors slammed by Amnesty over race debate
REBECCA Long-bailey has been dramatically sacked from Labour’s shadow cabinet after sharing an article containing an allegedly anti-semitic conspiracy theory.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer took action after Ms Long-bailey tweeted a link to an interview with actress Maxine Peake in which she claimed the US police linked to the death of George Floyd had learned their tactics from the Israeli secret services.
A spokesman for the Labour leader yesterday said: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet.
“The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an anti-semitic conspiracy theory. As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority.
“Anti-semitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.”
In her original tweet, Ms Long-bailey — a staunch ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn — praised Ms Peake as “an absolute diamond”.
She later issued a further tweet saying she had shared the article because of Ms Peake’s “significant achievements and because the thrust of her argument is to stay in the Labour Party”.
She added: “It wasn’t intended to be an endorsement of all aspects of the article.”
Sir Keir’s action will be seen as a further sign of willingness to take on the Corbynista left in the Labour Party.
Ms Long-bailey stood against him in the leadership contest earlier this year when she was seen as the clear candidate of the left.
The Board of Deputies of Brit
Rebecca Long-bailey who was kicked out of the shadow cabinet by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (right)
ish Jews praised Sir Keir for his swift action. President Marie van der Zyl said: “After Rebecca Long-bailey shared a conspiracy theory, we and others gave her the opportunity to retract and apologise.
“To our surprise and dismay, her response was pathetic. Her position as shadow education secretary was therefore untenable.
“There can be no space for this sort of action in any party and it is right that after so many challenging years Labour is now making this clear under its new leader.”
In a further series of tweets, Ms Long-bailey said she had
agreed the wording of the “clarification” of her initial tweet with Sir Keir’s office.
However she said that she was subsequently instructed to take down both the original tweet and the clarification.
“I could not do this in good conscience without the issuing of a press statement of clarification,” she said.
“I had asked to discuss these matters with Keir before agreeing what further action to take, but sadly he had already made his decision.”
The latest developments unfolded as former PM Tony Blair was praising the start made by Sir Keir, saying the party now
had a leader who “looks as if he could be prime minister”.
Mr Blair said the culture within Labour was “less toxic” and that they now had a “fighting chance” of regaining power.
“There is a long way to go but Keir has made a very good start, he has made good decisions inside the Labour Party, he is performing well, he is obviously a highly intelligent and capable guy,” he told a Reuters event.
“That’s been a big change and if we carry on like that and then develop the right policy agenda then we will have a fighting chance, for sure.
“At least we are back on the pitch, which is a welcome thing.”
POLITICIANS here have revealed a “worrying lack of understanding” about racism in a row over Black Lives Matter, it has been claimed.
Patrick Corrigan, NI programme director for Amnesty International, said the meeting of Lisburn and Castlereagh councillors, where the movement was branded violent and Marxist, would be “comical if it wasn’t so tragic”.
This week councillors voted to drop any reference to Black Lives Matter (BLM) from a motion to stand in solidarity and condemn “racism, discrimination and inequality”.
Mr Corrigan said the debate, in which multiple councillors used the counter-argument “all lives matter”, revealed a “worrying lack of understanding among some councillors of the realities of racism faced by local members of the black and minority ethnic community”.
He added: “Black Lives Matter protests are happening around the world, including in Northern Ireland, because of deep-seated prejudice and discrimination experienced by people of colour.
“We need real leadership from elected representatives to tackle racial injustice, not depressing debates and deflection.”