Tory MP accused of being ‘Jew lover’

A Tory MP has revealed he was accused of being a “Jew lover”, in the latest anti-Semitic jibe against an elected politician.  

Conservative MP Guto Bebb, who sits in the Aberconwy seat in Wales, told a parliamentary debate he was among the group of MPs who have been victims of anti-Semitic attacks.

He said: “I have grown a very thick skin since becoming an MP but even I was quite shocked this summer to be accused on social media of being a ‘Jew lover’.

“Now, my wife, as far as I know, is a Welsh Protestant and I have not been unfaithful so therefore I would hope that attack is not literally correct.”

A Conservative colleague, Lee Scott of Ilford North, also said he recently received a phone call in which he was labelled a “dirty Jew” who should be “stoned to death”.

Garron Helm, from Litherland, north of Liverpool, was handed a four-week custodial sentence at Merseyside Magistrates’ Court in October for sending an anti-Semitic tweet to Labour’s Luciana Berger.

MPs have previously been told the abuse against the Liverpool Wavertree MP continued via Twitter on a “violent and daily basis”.

Speaking today in a Westminster Hall debate on anti-Semitism, Mr Bebb said MPs have a responsibility to challenge social media companies for their lack of action.

Mr Scott said hate crimes were under reported – in some cases due to fear.

He said: “I myself, who do report things, only the other week got a phone call calling me a dirty Jew and saying I should be stoned to death.”