Labour member suspended for abusive message to Jewish journalist
Blogger Phillip Jones brands broadcaster Emma Barnett a 'Zionist', after she conducts a probing interview with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
A prominent Labour Party member has been suspended pending an investigation into abusive messages against “Zionist” BBC interviewer Emma Barnett, who pressed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on radio show ‘Woman’s Hour.’
Phillip Jones, who runs a blog called ‘Labour Insider,’ was suspended by Labour Party officials looking into tweets sent in the hours following the broadcast of Barnett’s interview with Corbyn.
In what Conservatives later described as a “car-crash,” Corbyn was pressed on the cost of free childcare, Labour’s headline pledge. When he could not offer a figure, Barnett pressed him, noting that he was trying to look up the answer on his iPad.
After the interview, someone using the Twitter handle @Labour_Insider tweeted: “BREAKING NEWS Allegations have surfaced that @Emmabarnett is a Zionist. Are the allegations true Emma.”
It is understood that Jones has denied sending the tweet, which drew an angry reaction from Corbyn later that day, as he implored supporters not to be personally abusive to those whose job it is to ask questions.
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