Lammy accuses Greens of promoting antizionist councillor who used ‘racist language’ against him

Lammy told MPs that she “described me and the shadow foreign secretary [Dame Priti Patel] as ‘coconuts’” – a term widely considered to be racially offensive, figuratively meaning “brown on the outside but white on the inside”.

Lammy went on to attack the Green Party for its inaction over the offensive language, even promoting Tam to a cabinet role in the local council.

The Green Party's Lewisham councillor Hau-Yu Tam (Photo by Kymberley Apiro/Getty Images)Getty Images

“Her party looked the other way, kept her candidate in post, and has rewarded that candidate with a council job. I'm not making this up, [she is] the Cabinet member for ‘healing’. The Greens could start the healing process by stopping such racist language", he told MPs.

Last week, the JC reported that Tam, a former Labour councillor who has shared a social media post saying that “Zionism is pure evil and must be abolished” and another that called it “undoubtedly, unquestionably the Nazism of our time”, apologised for her use of the term.

However, in her apology, she claimed that her intent was to criticise Lammy and Patel for “assimilation into white supremacy and upholding of colonial systems”.

“I was not going after the colour of their skin but rather their mentality”, she explained.

Patel rejected the apology and blasted Zack Polanski’s party, telling the JC: “This disgusting bile has become ubiquitous in the Green Party … Zack Polanski has dismally failed to tackle the vile hatred running rife among his colleagues.

"While the Greens indulge in racist identity politics, the Conservatives are focused on building a better future for everyone in our country.”