A Jewish
Labour MP has quit the party after more than 50 years because she thinks
Jeremy Corbyn would be “a danger to the country” if he became prime minister.
Dame Louise Ellman said she had also concluded that Corbyn would be a “danger to the Jewish community” given the “growth of anti-Semitism” in the party since he was elected leader.
The 73 year-old told the Times: “There is certainly a possibility, if not a likelihood, that Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister, and this means I’ve had to face taking a decision.
“I believe that Jeremy Corbyn would be a danger to the country, a danger to the Jewish community as well, but a danger to the country too.
“In that situation I do not wish to stand as a Labour MP, asking people to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister. So I have come to the conclusion that I have to resign.”I have made the truly agonising decision to leave the Labour Party after 55 years. I can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM. I will continue to serve the people of
Liverpool Riverside as I have had the honour to do since 1997. pic.twitter.com/3BTzUacZvo— Louise Ellman MP (@LouiseEllman) October 16, 2019The Liverpool Riverside MP, who was facing the prospect of a trigger ballot which could have seen her eventually deselected, attacked the Labour leader’s “intense hostility” towards Israel which “then spills over into anti-Semitism [and] would make a Corbyn-led government deeply troubling for the Jewish community but also for society as a whole, because
racism affects everybody”.
Asked if she believed that he was an anti-Semite, she said: “I don’t know what’s in his heart. I suspect he thinks he’s an anti-racist and can’t emotionally accept he could be an anti-Semite.
“But the fact is he has presided over the growth of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and making anti-Semitism almost mainstream within the party. And that’s a dreadful position to be in.”
Ellman added: “I see no indication at all that he as leader recognises his responsibility for what’s happening, or indeed wants to do anything about it.
“I see no contrition, no recognition of his role in this terrible situation.”
Reacting to Ellman’s resignation, Labour MP Lisa Nandy said: “It is hard to explain how painful this is.
“I know Louise will have thought so hard before taking this decision. So much is at stake. We cannot allow this to continue.”Absolutely devastated that @LouiseEllman feels that she no longer has a place in the Labour Party. Louise has given decades of her life to public service & having known her for nearly forty years I am proud to call her a close friend. This is a huge loss to the Labour Party.— Margaret Hodge (@margarethodge) October 16, 2019Party colleague Dame Margaret Hodge said: "Absolutely devastated that (Ellman) feels that she no longer has a place in the Labour party.
"Louise has given decades of her life to public service and having known her for nearly forty years I am proud to call her a close friend.
"This is a huge loss to the Labour Party."
Tory cabinet minister Therese Coffey praised Ellman for showing “a lot of courage”.
Liberal Democrat MP Chuka Umunna, who defected from Labour via Change
UK, said: “Louise is a wonderful parliamentarian, a great constituency MP and an all round lovely person.
“She has been treated in the most disgraceful way by Labour.
“What she has said shames the party and, most of all, it’s terrible leader.
“Big respect and solidarity with Louise.”Related... Exclusive: MP Facing Deselection Threatens Labour With Legal Action Over 'Misogynistic' Bullying Labour Will Back Referendum On Boris Johnson's Deal, Shadow
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