CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP and Vice-Chairman Andrew Percy MP have condemned the Labour Party this week for refusing to discipline an MEP who compared Israel to the Nazis.
Afzal Khan MEP had written on Twitter: “The Israeli Government are [sic] acting like Nazi’s [sic] in Gaza”.
A Labour spokesman confirmed that Mr Khan would not face any disciplinary action but said he had been “reminded of his responsibilities”.
Responding to the Labour Party’s inaction, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP said: “Another day, another Labour anti-Semite caught red-handed. Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to even suspend this MEP makes an absolute mockery of his promise to tackle anti-Semitism within his Party”.
Andrew Percy MP commented, stating: “It is staggering how often Labour politicians casually reference the Nazis when discussing the world’s only Jewish state”.
He added: “This is deeply offensive, causes a great deal of hurt to the Jewish community in the UK. Labour should move to suspend Afzal Khan immediately and start to take the issue of anti-Semitism more seriously”.
Two weeks ago, an anti-Semitism crisis engulfed the Labour Party, with the emergence of revelations that numerous senior Labour Party members had made anti-Semitic remarks. Former Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and Bradford West MP Naz Shah, were suspended from the party, along with several councillors.
