Rathbone barred from results event

A LABOUR AM who has been suspended from the party’s National Assembly group after complaints from a Jewish group was not permitted to attend the event at which Mark Drakeford was declared the new Welsh Labour leader.

The result was announced in a suite at the Principality Stadium, which lies within the Cardiff Central constituency represented by Jenny Rathbone.

Ms Rathbone, a supporter of Mr Drakeford’s, had hoped to be present, but was told by Welsh Labour’s deputy general secretary David Costa that she was barred.

Joe Goldberg, a former London councillor and a national executive member of the Jewish Labour Movement, complained to Carwyn Jones about comments made by Ms Rathbone at a meeting that was covertly recorded last year.

During the meeting, Ms Rathbone commented on security measures at Cardiff United Synagogue, suggesting those running it had a “siege mentality” and speculating about the degree to which threats were “in their heads”.

A friend of Ms Rathbone’s said: “It seems rather mean to have stopped her attending. She hasn’t been suspended by the party, which suggests it isn’t seen as very serious – just by the Assembly group.”

A spokesman for Welsh Labour said: “Members of the Assembly group were invited to the results event, but the invitation wasn’t extended to Jenny Rathbone because she’s not currently a member of the group. Members of campaign teams were allowed to attend, but there was no general invitation to party members.”