“Some people will never support you because they are afraid of what you might achieve.”
Margaret Hodge not happy and the Jewish Labour Movement want Lisa Forbes, the party’s new MPs for Peterborough, to have the whip withdrawn.
It flies in the face of all the hard work by Party members.
Let’s be honest Peterborough was won by the hard work of Labour Party campaigners, these loyal Jeremy Corbyn supporters who responded to the call to hit the pavements to do the hard work in knocking on the doors. It was these people who won the argument. Turning the election into more than just the Brexit Parties single issue.
Focus groups told Labour it would lose if it fought Peterborough on Brexit, leadership and the economy. So it focused on three issues that have particularly worried local voters: a rising crime rate, the state of local schools, and fly-tipping. This strategy caused some concern, particularly after the EU elections revealed that a single national issue, Brexit, could dominate all others. Before the count on Thursday night, one Labour fixer said: “If we pull this off, it will show that you can run a local campaign and beat a huge national issue. We have policing, fly-tipping and education; they have Brexit, Brexit and more Brexit.”
Credit should be given to the Labour party for the hard work and making this byelection more than just a single issue election on leaving the EU.
The message was clear Corbyn says Peterborough win justifies Labour’s decision to focus campaigning on austerity, not Brexit.
Sort lived celebrations.
But some Labour MPs are finding it harder to celebrate the Peterborough byelection result because Lisa Forbes, the party’s winning candidate, had to apologise during the campaign for liking a post that said Theresa May had a “Zionist slave masters agenda”.
This is from Margaret Hodge, the former minister, who has been one of those MPs most critical of Jeremy Corbyn and the party generally for not doing more to tackle antisemitism in the party.
Seriously mixed feelings about the Peterborough result. I never want to see Nigel Farage’s party in Parliament. But Lisa Forbes & the Labour Party have a lot to answer for. We must learn lessons & never have a repeat of this. Have formally raised concerns with party leadership.
— Margaret Hodge (@margarethodge) June 7, 2019
The Jewish Labour Movement has issued a statement this morning saying Lisa Forbes, the party’s new MPs for Peterborough, should have the whip withdrawn.
JLM’s statement on the result of the Peterborough by-election. pic.twitter.com/zEpYc2XAy4
— Jewish Labour Movement (@JewishLabour) June 7, 2019
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