Outrage as Labour activist accuses TV’s Rachel Riley ‘of prostituting her religion’
LABOUR was plunged into fresh turmoil over anti-Semitism last night as it was revealed that a party activist accused Countdown star Rachel Riley of ‘prostituting’ her Jewish heritage.
The presenter of the Channel 4 game show was also told her campaign against anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s party was ‘poisoning the memory of your ancestors’.
Labour member Bob James has now been suspended by the party over the series of offensive tweets aimed at Ms Riley.
The revelations come just days before Labour learns if it will face a full-scale investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into how the party has dealt with anti-Semitic allegations.
Party insiders said yesterday that there had been a ‘sudden surge’ in the processing of complaints at Labour HQ following signs earlier this month that the watchdog could intervene.
Ms Riley has suffered a torrent of abuse over her campaign. Last week, she was the target of vile taunts from supporters of Mr Corbyn who backed a #BoycottRachelRiley hashtag on Twitter. And it emerged yesterday that she had been singled out by North Wales activist Mr James, whose Twitter posts include comparing the state of Israel to the Nazis and saying: ‘Israel is using the Holocaust as an excuse for murder.’
Now it has been revealed that in December he told Ms Riley: ‘You have prostituted your religion, poisoning the memory of your ancestors who suffered greatly.’
He later tweeted: ‘Judaism is a religion but what Israel does in the name of God is pure Satanic.’
In January, Mr James, a member of the Alyn and Deeside constituency Labour Party, wrote: ‘I think Riley is using her influence as a popular celebrity to undermine the Labour party. Her method, though, using her Jewish heritage to promote self-interest, is appalling.’
He added: ‘Riley has been open about her dislike of Corbyn… You have to hand it to the Tory party for getting her to risk her career for 30 pieces of silver.’ The attacks provoked a personal reply from Ms Riley, who asked Mr James: ‘Are you an official Labour spokesperson, Bob, or just a big cheerleader?’
Three months ago, the sustained attacks on Ms Riley were reported to Labour by Steve Cooke, a member in Stockton North and a political education officer. Ms Riley thanked him for his support and added: ‘Sad state of affairs that you’d need courage to decry antiSemitism but here we are.’
Mr James last night admitted sending numerous messages to Ms Riley and confirmed he had been suspended by the party. He denied being anti-Semitic and accused the presenter of ‘using her religion to promote anti-socialism’.
Labour said it could not comment on individual cases but a spokesman added: ‘We take all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.
‘All complaints about antiSemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.’
Ms Riley could not be contacted for comment.