Outrage over ‘vicious bullying’ of Louise Ellman
HARD-LEFT ACTIVISTS have been ordered not to discuss on Yom Kippur a motion calling for Labour MP Dame Louise Ellman to resign — on the basis that it could “prejudice” attempts to de-select the Jewish MP.
Ruth Knox, secretary of St Michael’s Labour Party branch, in Dame Louise’s Liverpool Riverside constituency, sent a message on Monday confirming a warning had been given by officials representing Labour’s North West Region that “discussing a motion calling on the member of Parliament to resign could prejudice the outcome of a trigger ballot in Liverpool Riverside CLP”.
The email to all branch members adds: “Therefore the branch are not permitted to discuss the motion.”
Despite the order, St Michael’s Labour branch — whose members include activists who have been investigated for antisemitism by the party — were planning to meet on Kol Nidre at 6.30pm “to enable us to carry out selection of candidate for the 2020 local elections”.
The JC revealed earlier how two other branches in Liverpool Riverside — Princes Park and Greenbank — had submitted motions of no confidence against the MP.
Luke Akehurst of the moderate Labour First group told the JC: “These no-confidence motions have no standing in the Labour rulebook. The socalled trigger ballot is the only way an MP can be deselected.
“This is simply the vicious bullying of Louise Ellman, designed to sap her morale before the trigger-ballot selection process.”
Some of the leading campaigners against her have taken to not referring to the MP by her name in what one source told the JC was a stunt aimed at “dehumanising” their elected representative.
“There are several regular attendees at meetings of the Liverpool Riverside Party who delight in standing up and addressing Louise as ‘the MP’ or at best ‘Ms Ellman’ to her face,” the source said.
“This is despite the fact that when she attends meetings — and she normally does — Louise makes a point of telling members to call her by her first name. It’s quite disgusting to watch and see — but it’s been going on for months now.”
Comparing the treatment of Dame Louise to that dished out to Luciana Berger in neighbouring Liverpool Wavertree, Mr Akehurst added: “The targeting of these two Jewish MPs cannot be coincidental — it stinks of antisemitism and misogyny.” Legendary Labour figures such as Harriet Harman were among those to condemn the move against Dame Louise, alongside the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Labour Movement.
Labour has introduced new procedures requiring MPs to justify continued support from local members in a process known as trigger ballots.
There are also concerns among senior Labour figures that the move to oust a 73-year-old Jewish woman is bad for the party’s image.
The JC has learned that Jeremy Corbyn attempted to speak to Dame Louise in order to try to defuse anger of her treatment earlier this summer.
A source close to the Labour leader confirmed the pair had had a conversation.
But Mr Corbyn failed to acknowledge there was a growing problem of hard-left entryists in the party who held antisemitic views.
Instead he pointed to Jewish members of his own Islington North constituency who he said were happy in the party.
But sources within the Liverpool Riverside constituency have pointed to the continued campaign of “psychological warfare” against Dame Louise.
Labour sources told the JC all three Riverside branches have been warned not to discuss no-confidence motions.
They said trigger ballots had been used since 2001 and Monday’s meeting was a gathering of Riverside CLP’s executive committee.
This is simply the vicious bullying of Louise Ellman’