McDonnell: Right is the real threat to Jewish MPs
‘It’s a horrible place that we’re in’
SHADOW chancellor John McDonnell was accused of playing down the hard-Left threat to Jewish MPs last night – by saying the risk came from the Right.
Jewish MP Luciana Berger was accompanied by police at the party conference on Sunday.
But when confronted on BBC Radio 4’s Today with Miss Berger’s comment that ‘the threat comes increasingly from the Left’, he highlighted the menace of the far-Right and replied: ‘Wherever the threat comes from, we’re going to make sure our MPs are protected.’
It came as Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth said she only felt safe at the Labour conference accompanied by friends.
She told London’s LBC radio station yesterday that although she was tall and outspoken, she felt she needed support against abuse from anti-Semites.
‘I’m 6ft, and I’m pretty gobby,’ she said. ‘It’s not a friendly environment. I have very good friends with me all the time. It’s a horrible place that we’re in.’
There was also anger yesterday after one of Jeremy Corbyn’s allies was pictured with Miko Peled. At last year’s conference, Mr Peled questioned whether the Holocaust took place.
Chris Williamson, the Labour MP for Derby North, met him at a fringe meeting in Liverpool.
Labour Against Anti-Semitism said Mr Williamson should be thrown out of the party. It added: ‘The atmosphere of bullying and intimidation towards Labour Jewish MPs is not coming from the far-Right but from a hard-Left membership. It is a shame that Mr McDonnell cannot be more honest about this.’