On Wednesday, a member of the British Parliament who has served in that august body for 32 years and been a member of the Labour Party for 55 years wrote a searing condemnation of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as she announced her resignation from the party.
Dame Louise Ellman, who was raised in an observant Jewish home, denounced Corbyn for his toleration of anti-Semites and his consorting with, and never confronting, antisemites, Holocaust deniers, and terrorists. Ellman is the Chair of the All-Party Britain-Israel Parliamentary Group and the Labour Friends of Israel as well as serving as Honorary President of the Jewish Labour Movement, as the Mirror noted.
Last week, activists in her home constituency in the Liverpool Riverside area called on her to resign, stating, “We have no confidence that our MP Louise Ellman will carry out the wishes of our CLP (Constituency Labour Party) and our Riverside constituency or that she will follow Labour Party policy. This branch therefore call on our Riverside MP, Louise Ellman, to resign.”
In June, Ellman wrote, “It is time Jeremy Corbyn acted on Labour’s antisemitism crisis.”
It is time Jeremy Corbyn acted on Labour's antisemitism crisis. Here are four practical steps that must be taken now. Let's make progress! pic.twitter.com/TFf1LYdH9q
— Louise Ellman MP (@LouiseEllman) July 19, 2019
On Wednesday, Ellman stated:
I have made the truly agonizing decision to leave the Labour Party after 55 years. I can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM. I will continue to serve the people of Liverpool Riverside as I have had the honour to do since 1997.
She wrote:
I believe that Jeremy Corbyn is not fit to serve as our Prime Minister. With a looming general election and the possibility of him becoming Prime Minister, I feel I have to take a stand. I cannot advocate a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, antisemitism has become mainstream in the Labour Party. Jewish members have been bullied, abused and driven out. Antisemites have felt comfortable and vile conspiracy theories have been propagated. A party that permits anti-Jewish racism to flourish cannot be called anti-racist …
Jeremy Corbyn — who spent three decades on the backbenches consorting with, and never confronting antisemites, Holocaust deniers and terrorists, has attracted the support of too many anti-Semites.
The Labour Party is no longer a safe place for Jews and Jeremy Corbyn must bear the responsibility for this. We cannot allow him to do to the country what he has done to the Labour Party.
The overwhelming majority of the Jewish community is fearful of what a Corbyn government might mean for Britain’s Jews. I share those concerns. But this issue is not simply about the Jewish community. This is about the nature of our society. Jeremy Corbyn’s seeming tolerance of anti-Semitism would embolden racists, poison our public debate, and damage the social cohesion of our country.
My values — traditional Labour values —have remained the same. It is Labour, under Jeremy Corbyn, that has changed. He has presided over a culture of hatred, fear, and intolerance in the Labour party.
But this issue is no longer about the Labour Party — it is about the threat a Jeremy Corbyn premiership could pose to the country.
I have made the truly agonising decision to leave the Labour Party after 55 years. I can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM. I will continue to serve the people of Liverpool Riverside as I have had the honour to do since 1997. pic.twitter.com/3BTzUacZvo
— Louise Ellman MP (@LouiseEllman) October 16, 2019