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Tom Watson: 'I am ashamed of Labour antisemitism'

May 8, 2016 08:39
Tom Watson has issued a rallying cry against antisemitism within his party

By

Barry Toberman,

Barry Toberman

1 min read

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has said he is "ashamed of the recent cases of antisemitism in my party".

In a Yom HaShoah message to the Jewish Labour Movement, Mr Watson said he was working with the JLM and the Jewish community "to ensure that racists and antisemites have no place in British politics. Together with many colleagues, I am backing the JLM proposals for tougher rules.

"In Mein Kampf, Hitler's hateful screed of an autobiography, he claims that Zionism is a scam. Jews don't really want a state, he claimed. It's just another Jewish plot to set up a 'criminal base' from which to control the world. Much of the language from today's anti-Zionism makes exactly the same claims."

Mr Watson went on that Israel was testimony to Hitler's ultimate failure, as was Britain's "vibrant, integrated [and] positive" Jewish community, which contributed greatly to the country.

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