Tenth British MP quits Labour over embedded anti-Semitism in party

In her resignation letter, Jewish Labour MP Dame Louise Ellman, who has been a devoted member of the British Labour Party for 55 years and parliamentarian for more than two decades, says Labour ‘is no longer a safe place for Jews and Jeremy Corbyn must bear the responsibility for this.’

By Ynet and Agencies

 

British Jewish Labour MP Dame Louise Ellman has announced her departure from the Labour Party after 55 years as a member and more than 20 years as a lawmaker, citing rising anti-Semitism within the party since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader.

“Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, anti-Semitism has become mainstream in the Labour Party. Jewish members have been bullied, abused and driven out,” Ellman wrote in a resignation letter she posted on Twitter.

“The Labour Party is no longer a safe place for Jews and Jeremy Corbyn must bear the responsibility for this,” said the MP, who represents a constituency in Liverpool.

“I can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks (Jeremy) Corbyn becoming PM,” Ellman said.

“I will continue to serve the people of Liverpool Riverside as I have had the honour to do since 1997.”

“I will not join any other party,” she added.

RELATED:

“We’re losing an important Jewish MP from the party,” Labour peer Baronnes Dianne Hayter told LBC Radio on Thursday. “It’s our loss.”

Corbyn, a veteran campaigner for Palestinian rights and critic of the Israeli government, has long been dogged by charges he has allowed a culture of anti-Semitism to thrive in Britain’s main opposition party – something he denies.

Ellman’s departure follows an attempt by her local party branch to debate her deselection on the night of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Another Jewish Labour MP for Liverpool, Luciana Berger, left the party earlier this year over anti-Semitism.

Hezbollah flag behind Jeremy Corbyn at a protest in 2012 – Photo by Samuel Hardy

Earlier this year, a BBC program reported that Corbyn’s office had interfered in the independent party discipline processes aimed at rooting out anti-Semitism, a charge rejected by the party.

Labour is also facing an investigation by Britain’s Equaity and Human Rights Commission over claims of anti-Semitism, which party officials warn could lead to its bankruptcy.

 

View original Ynet publication at:
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5608790,00.html

 

 

 

 

 

ISRAEL

‘as a light unto the nations’