IDS devastates Corbyn over Labour anti-Semitism with crucial point on SHOCK 'apologism'
IAIN Duncan Smith took a swipe at Jeremy Corbyn as he called on the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to "kick out" anti-Semite members from his party as well as members making "apologist" excuses on the issue.
The Conservative MP asked Theresa May to join him in his criticism over the anti-Semitism crisis hitting the Labour party calling on the Labour leader to kick out certain members from his party.
Mr Smith addressed the Prime Minister after two Labour MPs gave emotional evidence of the anti-Semitism crisis in their party in a debate on Tuesday.
He said: “My Rt Hon friend rightly made reference to yesterday debate on anti-Semitism.
“I sat in the chamber and listened particularly to the two appalling testimonies from the member of the Liverpool Wavertree and particularly Stoke on Trent North.
“They were deeply moving, they were both horrifying in the sense of the abuse that they have faced.
“But also uplifting in the sense of the bravery that they have shown in tackling their abusers.
“Can I ask my Rt Hon friend, does she not agree with me what came out of that debate yesterday was that not only should every political party have absolutely no place for anybody who is anti-Semite, but also just as importantly, should kick out of the party any apologists for anti-Semites as well?”
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Jewish MPs Luciana Berger and Ruth Smeeth shared examples to highlight the party’s antisemitism crisis during a debate on Tuesday.
Mr Corbyn’s remaining reputation was shattered as MPs from both sides gave standing ovations to the women as some were even reduced to tears.
Ms Smeeth said she has received thousands of abusive messages on social media from people who claimed to be supporters of the Labour leader.
One read: “The first job for Jeremy Corbyn tomorrow: expel the Zionist bitch Ruth Smeeth from the party.”
Another one said: “Hang yourself you vile treacherous Zionist Tory filth, you’re a cancer of humanity.”
Every political party should kick out any apologists for anti-Semites
Ms Smeeth told the Commons: “I’ve been the target of abuse from people who say I have no place in the party I have been in for 20 years.”
Ms Berger also shared abuse she has received from people who used the hashtag JC4PM (Jeremy Corbyn for prime minister).
She said: “It is antisemitism of the worst kind; suggesting that I'm a traitor to our country, they have called me 'Judas', a 'Zio-Nazi', an 'absolute parasite', telling me to 'get out of this country and to go back to Israel’.
“My party urgently needs to address this issue publicly and consistently. We have a duty to the next generation. Denial is not an option…The time for action is now. Enough really is enough.”
To further illustrate the party’s growing divide, their deputy leader Tom Watson did not sit next to Mr Corbyn, but instead with Ms Berger and Ms Smeeth in a sign of solidarity.
Many Labour MPs condemned Mr Corbyn and his failure to tackle the ongoing crisis during the three-hour debate.
John Mann, chairman of the all-party group on anti-Semitism revealed his wife had been sent a dead bird in the mail and she was even threatened with rape as he said Jewish people were “scared” to be in the party.
He said: “I didn’t expect when I took on this voluntary cross-party role for my wife to be sent by a Labour Marxist antisemite a dead bird through the post.
“I didn't expect my wife, in the last few weeks from a leftist anti-Semite in response to the demonstration, to be threatened with rape.”