Lord Levy ‘may quit’ Labour over party's failure to condemn anti-Semitism
LORD Levy said that he is considering quitting the Labour Party over its failure to condemn anti-Semitism.
Lord Levy is considering quitting the Labour Party over its failure to condemn anti-Semitism
Labour’s former treasurer, the chief fundraiser under Tony Blair, said he had been “shocked and horrified” by the views of people admitted to the party.
“Anti-Semitism in any political party cannot be tolerated and it is for the leadership to make that absolutely clear,” he said.
“If they don’t make that clear then I will start to question myself and question my being a Labour peer.”
Anti-Semitism in any political party cannot be tolerated
His comments came after Labour activist Vicki Kirby was suspended for a second time this month after insulting Jewish people.
She was first suspended in 2014 when she was a parliamentary candidate for Woking in Surrey.
She had launched a Twitter tirade in which she suggested Adolf Hitler might be a “Zionist God”.
Vicki Kirby was suspended for a second time after insulting Jewish people
She also questioned why Islamic State had not attacked Israel.
And hard leftist Gerry Downing, who has spoken of the need to “address the Jewish question”, won an appeal against suspension from the Labour Party, but was expelled after “new evidence” came to light.
Lord Levy said the Labour Party had historically been “very trusted” by the Jewish community and said firm action was needed to make sure it did not lose their support.
Lord Levy said Jews are seeing 'desecration of gravestones, graffiti, physical abuse'
Some Labour supporters believe not enough is being done to tackle anti-semitism
He said: “When I was deeply involved under Tony Blair, this was a party that was very trusted and very loved by the Jewish community.
“That continued under Gordon Brown and it was certainly the case in the Harold Wilson era.”
He said he had encountered anti-Semitism from Tories and this was an issue for all parties at a time when Jews were seeing “desecration of gravestones, graffiti, physical abuse”.