Scottish councillor who said Jewish papers colluded with Mossad is reinstated

A Scottish Labour local councillor has been reinstated into the party despite claiming that the Mossad colluded with Jewish newspapers to prevent a Jeremy Corbyn government.

Fife councillor Mary Lockhart has only been warned about her future behaviour.

Lockhart made her social media attack after Jewish News, the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish Telegraph published a joint front page, warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an “existential threat to Jewish life in this country”.

Lockhart posted, then deleted: “If the purpose is to generate opposition to anti-Semitism, it has backfired spectacularly.

“If it is to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader, it is unlikely to succeed, and is a shameless piece of cynical opportunism.

“And if it is a Mossad assisted campaign to prevent the election of a Labour government pledged to recognise Palestine as a State, it is unacceptable interference in the democracy of Britain.”

She had been suspended by council leader Richard Leonard in July, but was reinstated this week.

Ex-Labour MP Thomas Docherty – who lodged the complaint about the post – said the party’s decision showed that Labour was “not a safe space for Jewish people”.

Docherty told the Dundee Courier: “At one level I’m not surprised that the party is clearly institutionally racist and does not take anti-Semitism seriously.

“It’s clear that the Labour party is not a safe space for Jewish people.”

Docherty added that the comments were “right at the top end”, adding: “She accused, without any evidence whatsoever, Jewish journalists of acting on behalf of a foreign government. It’s a classic anti-Semitic trope.”

At the time, JN laughed off the post, tweeting: “We’ve been rumbled! Labour councillor accuses Jewish News of working for Mossad.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Ms Lockhart’s suspension has been lifted following the conclusion of the investigation and she has been reminded of her future conduct.”

Scottish Labour refused to go into further details about the decision, including where on the spectrum of offensiveness the comments were judged to sit or when the ruling was made.

Lockhart has form and had to apologise in September 2016 for invoking a poem about Nazi persecution in her criticism of Labour officials.