LAAS Statement

Fiona Sharpe, spokesman for Labour Against Antisemitism:

“The further evidence of Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s problematic views, described in the Sunday Times, presents Labour leader Keir Starmer with no other option than to sack the Brighton Kemptown MP from his frontbench.

While the two seemingly antisemitic social media posts reported today are grounds for dismissal, the revelation that Mr Russell-Moyle also personally intervened to help the now-expelled Labour activist Becky Massey evade punishment for her own promotion of antisemitic views makes his position even more untenable. The support of Ms Massey follows Mr Russell-Moyle’s reported defences of the disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson and another local Brighton activist, Mel Melvin, who was expelled from Labour after claiming the BBC had faked footage of a Syrian gas attack at the behest of the “Israeli lobby”.

Despite the apology offered by Mr Russell-Moyle today, the recurrence of these incidents (along with others) suggests both an apparently concerning pattern of behaviour and a seeming lack of contrition that is simply unacceptable. Having shown leadership in sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey last month, Keir Starmer must once again prove that he is committed to a consistent and effective zero tolerance policy on antisemitism.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/first-jk-rowling-now-israel-labour-frontbencher-forced-to-apologise-for-second-time-in-a-month-zvhp9p73j

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/15401660.labour-mp-slammed-in-anti-semitism-row/

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-split-scabs-will-regret-it-says-corbyn-ally-lloyd-russell-moyle_uk_5c6dc41be4b0f40774cba687?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACpz3CfNTa7Scs8snOBvzcawzwmNfNfEREYmu1UzJt7lg1Hqgr3LSE_JE3q_f19R2nVigyhGsDUFFYizxHfB2cV3StSEHotvs2pgU4TX4_wP8CVz-ggZeW2OPZTb4Alxb4OlOJ5Pm1D3VRztHnMLRDGjn6IQM3NQCTlh3AgYnCyB

https://labouragainstas.org.uk/news-and-comment/sir-keir-starmer%E2%80%99s-front-bench-picks/