Labour gag sparks new anti- Semitism storm
LABOUR has sparked a fresh antiSemitism furore as a chilling move to silence victims from speaking out is exposed by The Mail on Sunday.
Party bosses have warned any activist who publicly accuses another member of anti- Jewish prejudice risks being disciplined and any formal complaints they have made could be dropped.
Anyone complaining is ordered by the party’s Complaints Team to ‘ensure you keep all information relating to your complaint private and do not share it with third parties or the media ( including social media).’
It adds: ‘If you fail to do so, the party reserves the right to take action to protect confidentiality, and we may be unable to consider your complaint further. You may also be liable to disciplinary action for breach of the party’s rules.’
Last night, Tory MP Andrew Percy said: ‘This is nothing more than the sort of gagging clause that Labour have repeatedly criticised.’
And the campaign group Labour Against Anti- Semitism added: ‘Instead of tackling anti-Semitism, Labour is trying to intimidate and punish those who are speaking out against it. We won’t be bullied and we won’t be silenced.’ Last night, Labour insisted it takes ‘all allegations of anti-Semitism extremely seriously, which are fully investigated in line with the party’s rules and procedures’.
Campaigners last night blasted Labour after a Corbyn die- hard who made a sick jibe about cutting the throats of supporters of Israel was not expelled from the party.
John Shaw made the Facebook slur in May but last night it emerged the party’s Complaints Team would take no action beyond urging him to tone down his online rants.
Mr Shaw, an official in the Easington Labour Party, County Durham, posted that any MP who was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group should be ‘isolated by colleagues and the membership’. When another user replied ‘cut the t i es’ he wrote: ‘ I ’ d prefer to cut elsewhere but close to where a tie goes!!!’ Mr Shaw did not respond to requests for comment.