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Labour inadvertently names member suspended over hate posts

Labour inadvertently revealed the identity of the member known to run a Twitter account called 'GazaBoatConvoy'

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Labour has suspended a party member over antisemitic posts on social media.

The move comes after a Jewish Labour councillor resorted to sharing the posts himself, after the party ignored his complaints.

Labour inadvertently revealed the identity of the member as Laura Stuart, who is known to run a Twitter account called “GazaBoatConvoy”.

In an email sent on Wednesday afternoon, a party spokesperson said: “Laura Stuart has been suspended from Labour Party pending an investigation.”

However, in what was clearly an attempt to conceal Ms Stuart’s identity, the party sent a second email minutes later, in which her name was omitted.

The email read: “A Labour Party member has been suspended from Labour Party pending an investigation into this case. The Labour Party is committed to challenging and campaigning against antisemitism in all its forms."

The message was accompanied by an apology for “any confusion”.

The councillor, Adam Langleben, of the West Hendon ward in north-west London, had not named Ms Stuart when he shared the antisemitic posts. 

He had tweeted: “There is a member of the Labour Party in the constituency where I am a councillor. She is an antisemite. I put in a complaint in July and to date no action has been taken. She continues to attend meetings and take part in street stalls. I believe in due process and I had hoped that my formal complaint would lead to a swift and speedy conclusion... But it has not.”

He added that the member in question ran a Twitter account called “GazaBoatConvoy”.

Examples of tweets from the GazaBoatConvoy account which he shared included: “Hear it from a Jewish grandmother how Jews love money and are a bunch of crooks”, “Must still be plenty shekels to be wrung out of the memory of the Holocaust. #HolocaustIndustry” and “All Jews are above the law – as in, they cheat the laws of Moses etc. God gives edicts, they set their Rabbis to find ways around them”.

Speaking to the JC, Councillor Langleben said he had been moved tweet about Ms Stuart after seeing her at a constituency Labour Party meeting last week.

“She just can’t be there anymore. To my mind, it’s such a clear cut issue – there’s no ambiguity in this one,” he said.

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