Labour member suspended for ‘anti-Semitic’ online post
A SENIOR Labour member has been suspended over an allegedly anti-Semitic attack on deputy leader Tom Watson.
East Yorkshire-based national policy forum representative George McManus was suspended pending an investigation for suggesting Mr Watson was like “Judas” and had received “£50,000 from Jewish donors”.
It came amid a Twitter campaign to oust the deputy leader for suggesting Labour faced a “vortex of eternal shame” unless it got to grips with anti-Semitism.
Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey admitted the party needed to put its problems with anti-Semitism “to bed” and act quickly.
And she said she agreed with Mr Watson that the issue had to be tackled, and condemned abuse “of any kind of any member” .
Speaking on a visit to wind turbine manufacturer Hutchinson Engineering in Widnes, Cheshire, Ms Long-Bailey said: “I haven’t looked at Twitter to see what anybody’s been saying but I don’t condone abuse of any kind of any member of the Labour Party or outside. I think we always need to be respectful to each other.”
Meanwhile, West Yorkshire MP Yvette Cooper called on Labour to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition and examples of anti-Semitism, and backed Mr Watson.
So far Labour has adopted the definition but omitted a few of the examples, sparking the latest in a series of furious rows the party has faced over the issue under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Former Cabinet Minister Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s programme: “I think this problem that we are in is awful for the Labour Party that’s got such a history of fighting racism.
“To be stuck in this mess, it’s an awful situation that we are in.
“I think it is not going to go away until the party adopts the international definition of antiSemitism.”
Separately, understands that Labour’s General Secretary has written to Dame Margaret Hodge to end the investigation into alleged abusive behaviour and inform her that no further action will be taken.
A Labour source said the letter came after Dame Margaret expressed regret to the Chief Whip for calling Jeremy Corbyn “an anti-Semitic racist”, but the Labour MP’s lawyers denied she expressed regret.