Ivan Lewis resigns from Labour citing party’s antisemitism row
Manchester MP hit out at Jeremy Corbyn for being "unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred".
Ivan Lewis has resigned his membership of the Labour Party and hit out at Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism within the movement.
The former minister who has been suspended from Labour for more than a year following allegations of sexual harassment, also hit out at the way the disciplinary process had been handled.
The Bury South MP used his resignation letter to Mr Corbyn to criticise the Labour leader and his spin doctor Seumas Milne.
“It is for others to decide whether you are antisemitic, but what is absolutely clear is that you and Seumas Milne do not believe in the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their own state,” he said.
“This is different to your view on the right to self-determination for every other minority community.”
He said that “all too often you have been unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred, this is incompatible with being a lifelong campaigner against racism.”
A Former Foreign Office minister, Mr Lewis said Mr Corbyn had an “anti-Western world view”and “it is no wonder that so many British people are uncomfortable at the prospect of you becoming prime minister”.
Mr Lewis said he would continue to sit as an independent in the House of Commons.
He has strongly denied the allegations made against him and complained he had been suspended “despite never having been interviewed about complaints which have been made against me”.
Mr Lewis claimed there had been an “unnecessary and politically motivated delay” in dealing with his case.
I'm resigning from @UKLabour, but will continue to stand up for the people of Bury South as an Independent MP in the @HouseofCommons. Read my resignation letter to Jeremy Corbyn. pic.twitter.com/YNmqRVclvR
— Ivan Lewis (@IvanLewis_MP) December 20, 2018
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