“I’m in no doubt that the current question of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party has been vastly exaggerated”

From: Mike Southon, Marina, St Leonards
Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn

May I take this opportunity to respond to the report of Cllr Dany Louise’s resignation from the Labour Party as reported in your edition of the February 22, 2019.

Cllr Dany Louise has indicated that she intends to continue as a Councillor for the Old Town Ward until her term of office is up in May 2020. This will deprive the Labour voters of being represented by a Labour Councillor for 14 months and thus double the workload of the remaining Labour Councillor James Bacon.

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Dany Louise was a new candidate in the May 2018 elections and so her personal vote would have probably been minimal, and she was elected as a Labour candidate on a Labour manifesto.

Integrity would suggest that she should resign as a Councillor forthwith and if she has the courage of her convictions stand in the subsequent by-election as an Independent. I doubt, however, that she will do this.

As regards her comments about the Liverpool Wavertree MP, Luciana Berger, my son was a Labour voter in Wavertree until he recently moved, and I know a number of Labour Party members in Wavertree, and have spoken at length to them about their feelings towards the MP. She was regarded as out of kilter and at odds with the views of the majority of the Labour members and voters in Wavertree.

She had been parachuted into the constituency prior to the 2010 General Election despite local opposition, and didn’t even know who Bob Paisley, the most successful ever manager of Liverpool FC, was. Despite Jeremy Corbyn offering her a Shadow Ministerial role, which she accepted and then later resigned from as part of a co-ordinated attempt to remove him as Leader of the Party. She consistently aligned herself with MPs looking to undermine Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership at every opportunity.

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I abhor the abuse she has received, but as regards the proposed vote of no confidence in her by the Wavertree Labour Party, this was withdrawn as result of pressure from the national leadership, despite her continued attempts to undermine the leadership, and constant rumours that she intended to resign the Labour Whip, which obviously came to pass. Her actions prior to resigning continually frustrated the Wavertree members and led to an noticeable increase in dissatisfaction with her perceived disloyalty to the Labour leadership.

As is often the case it’s never a black and white situation, but one of a shade of grey. I’ve been in the Labour Party for over 40 years, and I’ve lived in various parts of the country, and I’m in no doubt that the current question of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party has been vastly exaggerated, and is cynically being used to attack Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the party. Any questioning of the appalling treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli Government is immediately labelled as anti-Semitic by the anti-Corbyn brigade.

Dani Louise’s fellow Councillor Leah Levane is one of the national officers of the Jewish Voice for Labour, which is attempting to counter balance the right wing propaganda machine which is always looking to muddy the waters over this issue.

True Labour Party Members will continue to fight for the truth to be known and campaign for the election of a radical Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn, which is urgently needed by the people of the UK.