NOW AN EIGHTH LABOUR MP RESIGNS
Jewish movement could quit too as storm flares over claims of ‘Israeli funding’ for rebels
THE crisis within Labour deepened last night as an eighth MP quit the party, accusing Jeremy Corbyn of ‘presiding over a culture of anti- Semitism and hatred of Israel’.
Joining the group that broke away on Monday, Joan Ryan said she ‘could not be part of a party that allows racism to flourish’. She said Mr Corbyn was ‘a danger’ and compared him to Donald Trump.
Miss Ryan joined Labour in 1983 and was first elected MP for Enfield North in 1997.
In her resignation letter, the chairman of Labour Friends of Israel said the party had become ‘infected with the scourge of anti- Jewish racism’.
She added: ‘This problem simply did not exist in the party before [Corbyn’s] election as leader. No previous Labour leader would have allowed this huge shame to befall the party.’ She added that she had been ‘ horrified, appalled and angered to see the Labour leadership’s dereliction of duty in the face of this evil.’ She said Labour provoked ‘bewilderment, fear and anger’ among the Jewish community.
Shortly before submitting her formal notice of resignation last night Miss Ryan, 63, said she considered the move to be a duty in an interview with The Times. ‘It’s obviously not a delight, it’s painful,’ she said of her decision. She later tweeted: ‘After four decades, I have made the terribly difficult decision to resign from the Labour Party. It is the greatest honour of my life to represent the people of Enfield North.’
She paid tribute to Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson who she said had chosen to continue the fight from within the party.
She said the party had become focused on ‘rage, betrayal and hunt for heretics’, rather than being an open party. Angela Smith, another of the defectors, tweeted: ‘Welcome Joan.’ Gavin Shuker, who also quit Labour on Monday, tweeted: ‘Such respect for Joan. I know how hard this is. But we’re building something powerful together.’
Earlier yesterday Labour found itself engulfed in a fresh antiSemitism storm after one of its MPs suggested the defectors were being secretly bankrolled by Israel.
Ruth George said it was ‘possible’ the Israeli state was financially backing her former colleagues.
The extraordinary row came as the 2,000- strong Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), which has been the party’s official Jewish group for 99 years, threatened to disaffiliate and quit the party. The group said it would hold crisis talks to decide ‘where we go from here’ after the seven depart- ing Labour MPs said the party had become ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’. Wes Streeting, a Labour MP and vicechairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Jews, warned that such a move ‘would be a nail in the coffin for the Labour Party’.
Miss George last night ‘unreservedly and wholeheartedly’ apologised for her comments and said she had no intention of ‘invoking a conspiracy theory’. The MP had claimed that the defectors, which includes Jewish MP Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, may have been receiving money from Israel.
In a Facebook post, she suggested that ‘support from the State of Israel, which supports both Conservative and Labour “Friends of Israel” of which Luciana was chair is possible and I would not condemn those who suggest it, especially when the group’s financial backers are not being revealed’.
‘It’s important for democracy to know the financial backers for any political group or policy,’ she added. Tory MP Simon Clarke said Miss George’s posts were ‘staggering’, adding: ‘All the lazy conflation of smears about Israel, Jewish MPs and those who dare to criticise the hideous state of the Labour Party are on display in full technicolor.’
Miss George’s comment had been made in response to a request to condemn an activist who had labelled the breakaway MPs ‘Israelis’. The MP said: ‘I would condemn the calling of anyone as an Israeli when it’s not the case. The comment appears not to refer to the independent MPs but to their financial backers.’
The JLM is considering holding a ballot to decide whether to disaffiliate. Meetings will take place in London and Manchester on March 6.
Mr Streeting added: ‘The JLM is one of Labour’s oldest affiliates – predating even some of our most well-known trades unions. They helped found and build Labour. If Jewish members disaffiliate, and it is ultimately their choice, it would be a nail in the coffin for the Labour Party itself.’
‘Nail in the coffin of the party itself’