Nick Hewer, the presenter of Countdown, has said he will no longer vote Labour in protest against the abuse suffered by colleague Rachel Riley, who has been an outspoken critic of the party's antisemitism crisis.
Ms Riley has been the target of abuse by far-left activists on Twitter in recent months, which began when she shared a video condemning antisemitism in football in December.
The presenter, who is Jewish, said she was then confronted with “weird and aggressive posts about Israel and Zionists”, sharing a number of posts which sought to compare the Israeli state with the Nazis.
Permission to talk about something really difficult...Thread:
— Rachel Riley (@RachelRileyRR) December 8, 2018
I don’t particularly want to, but yesterday, after posting an @kickitout video condemning antisemitism, inevitably, I’m confronted with weird and aggressive posts about Israel and Zionists, and I want to address this. pic.twitter.com/7xBQuq8wev
Since then, Ms Riley has continued to discuss Labour’s ongoing antisemitism crisis on her Twitter account.
Mr Hewer, formerly an aide to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, renounced his support for the party via the social media site on Tuesday, saying he had voted for the party since 1964 but would not any longer.
He said he was "raised to abhor bigotry" and "astonished at the blunt assaults and trickster arguments fired at my friend and colleague for calling out antisemitism in that once great Labour party which I have voted for since 1964. Not any more.”
