Corbyn peerage choice ‘backed barred activists’
A NEWLY-APPOINTED Labour peer signed a letter defending party members who had been suspended for comments about Jews, Zionism and the Holocaust.
Martha Osamor, a long-time activist and Labour member, was nominated for the peerage by Jeremy Corbyn.
In June 2016, Ms Osamor signed a letter backing a number of then suspended members, including Ken Livingstone.
Ms Osamor released a statement on Friday afternoon, shortly before her elevation to the Lords was confirmed. She said: “I am and always have been implacably opposed to antisemitism and have spent my life as an anti-racist campaigner.
“As Jeremy has said clearly, raising concerns about antisemitism is not a smear. I welcome Jennie Formby’s recent actions as Labour’s new general secretary to ensure there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party.”
The letter backing those accused of Jew-hate said “allegations of antisemitism are being used to stifle the sharing of information on some of the uncomfortable events that took place during the Shoah”.
Mr Corbyn also nominated Iain McNicol for a peerage. The former Labour general secretary stood down from the senior role in February. Subsequently, allies of Mr Corbyn have attempted to imply the party’s sluggish response to the antisemitism crisis was Mr McNicol’s fault.
Dawn Butler, the Shadow Equalities Minister, told the BBC after the local elections this month: “Jeremy Corbyn ordered a report almost immediately and then that report wasn’t implemented. It’s not a failure of the leadership, it’s a failure of the general secretary for not implementing it.”
In e-mails sent to colleagues in late March, Mr McNicol made it clear he was not responsible for delaying the implementation of two key recommendations into combating Jew-hatred.
Among the new Conservative peers is Sir Eric Pickles, the former parliamentary chair of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), who stood down as an MP last year.
Sir Eric was appointed as a co-chair of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation’s advisory board last month and remains the government’s special envoy for postHolocaust issues.
Lord Polak, CFI honorary president, sent “a huge congratulations and mazeltov to Israel’s greatest chum.
“With four remarkable decades of public service, Sir Eric’s peerage is not only fully deserved but he will also make an enormous contribution to the House of Lords,” he said.
I have always been implacably opposed to Jew-hate’