‘Hatefest’ in local party forces John Mann to miss JLM conference
Chair of APPG against anti-Semitism forgoes attending Jewish Labour Movement event, over potential for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish action in his local constituency
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
One of the Jewish community’s most steadfast friends in Parliament, Labour MP John Mann, has had to forego attending the Jewish Labour Movement conference in London on Sunday because of what he describes as a ‘hatefest’ in his own constituency party in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire.
In a letter to the organisers of the JLM conference, Mr Mann, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism, says he is obliged to miss the conference because “some members of my local party are participating in the Williamson/Walker hatefest where they will be targeting me today”.
This is a reference to one of a series of events held by fellow Labour MP and staunch Jeremy Corbyn defender, Derby South’s Chris Williamson, who has repeatedly denounced accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party. He appears on a number of occasions with Jackie Walker, the Momentum activist who remains suspended from Labour over allegations of antisemitism.
In response to the Williamson and Walker event, Mr Mann says his Bassetlaw Constituency Labour Party (CLP) “is making this a day of campaign action, which will include a vote supporting IHRA [the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism]” and himself as the local MP.
Those attending what the MP describes as “the hate fest” include, he says, “those who say that I am ‘loyal to a foreign power’ and ‘paid by the Jews’. I will be celebrating their attendance by referring them for expulsion”.
A furious Mr Mann predicts: “Labour stands at a crossroad. A failure to tackle this insipid racism will mean that the Party no longer deserves to exist and will slowly and painfully die”.
Saluting “the Jewish community’s “refusal to be cowed by the new antisemitism and the vital role of JLM.”, Mr Mann has also announced that a new session of the international antisemitism conference, which he initially convened at Lancaster House in 2009, would be resumed on November 26 this year. It will, he says, “highlight the role of women Parliamentarians fighting antisemitism worldwide and to challenge the particularly vicious antisemitism targeted at Jewish women Parliamentarians.
He added: “I am calling on the Labour Party leader to automatically confirm the reselection of every female Jewish Parliamentarian as Labour candidates at the next election. The brutality and the consistency of the racism directed against Luciana, Louise, Ruth and Margaret demonstrates that the Labour Party is now becoming an institutionally racist party, with several thousand openly racist members all claiming to act in the name of Jeremy Corbyn”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
