The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167690   Message #4062356
Posted By: robomatic
01-Jul-20 - 06:46 PM
Thread Name: BS: UK thread, Politics and political
Subject: RE: BS: UK thread, Politics and political
from the Beeb

Nia Griffith was shadow defence secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, with Keir Starmer appointing her shadow Welsh secretary when he took over the leadership.
Ms Griffith said anyone who cannot accept Sir Keir's zero-tolerance approach should leave the party.
"He (Sir Keir Starmer) said he would deal with anti-Semitism in the party," Ms Griffith said.
"And we really needed decisive action to do that so when, unfortunately, Rebecca Long-Bailey did what she did on Thursday, and did not respond to the opportunity to apologise, it was absolutely essential.
"And he's had real support throughout the party on that."
Mrs Long-Bailey retweeted the article, which was an interview with actor and Labour supporter Maxine Peake, but later the former shadow education secretary said she had not meant to endorse all aspects of it.
When pressed on whether members who have sent messages of support from the left for Mrs Long-Bailey were guilty of anti-Semitism, Ms Griffith said: "Well I think they are and I think they're also in danger of going backwards and going back over old arguments and old mistakes because what we need now is clear, decisive action to make sure that we root out anti-Semitism in the party.
"And so, it's absolutely vital that we do that, not just talk about it.
"So action is really important and they must learn to accept that and I'm sure the majority of them will."
The Welsh Labour Grassroots group put out a statement following Thursday's events, which said criticism of the Israeli Government was not tantamount to anti-Semitism.
Ms Griffith said that was "disappointing and worrying", and that "when people start making blanket assumptions or blanket criticisms that is very often the basis of anti-Semitism or racism".
She added: "That's completely different from making a specific comment about a specific policy about a specific government."
On the question of what should happen to members who agreed with Mrs Long-Bailey, Ms Griffith said: "Well it is going to be a long process and I think starting off by making it absolutely clear we have zero tolerance of anti-Semitism in the party is step one, but quite clearly there is work to be done."