Rachel Riley slams Labour councillor who claimed she would be to blame for another Jo Cox murder’ in anti-Semitism row
RACHEL Riley has slammed a Labour councillor who retweeted an article claiming she would be to blame for another Jo Cox murder. The Countdown maths whizz called Lisa Lewis “racist” after the Bournemouth councillor shared the piece saying she was “working for the Israeli state”. Rachel, an outspoken anti-semitism campaigner, fired off a series furious […]
RACHEL Riley has slammed a Labour councillor who retweeted an article claiming she would be to blame for another Jo Cox murder.
The Countdown maths whizz called Lisa Lewis “racist” after the Bournemouth councillor shared the piece saying she was “working for the Israeli state”.
Rachel, an outspoken anti-semitism campaigner, fired off a series furious tweets and accused Lewis of suggesting the TV star deserved to be murdered.
Lewis played down the allegation, replying that she believed Labour boss Jeremy Corbyn and party general secretary Jennie Formby when they say “0.06% of Labour members were found to have been or made anti/Semitic remarks”.
‘RACIST’ COUNCILLOR
Retweeting the comment, Rachel replied: “ State of this racist @Elisalew
“Responds to: Do you think I deserve to be murdered?
“With: I’m more concerned you’re trying to stop a racist fake news site from making money from it.
“WOW!!!”
The anti-semitism row started after Lewis retweeted a piece published by the Dorset Eye news blog.
The hateful article ranted: “For a while now, Rachel Riley has been working – not so clandestinely – for (or with) the Israeli state propaganda machine.
“The more these ‘far right fascist enables’ spew the greater the number realise what a bunch of sickos they are.
“At some point another Jo Cox moment will happen but this time it will not just be MP’s who are at great risk.
“Rachel Riley and her goons will only have themselves to blame if some loose cannon stoops to another loathsome low.”
The piece also claimed Rachel was “obviously a fascist and an Israeli terrorist sympathiser”.
LABOUR ANTI-SEMITISM CRISIS
Cllr Lewis, who is the deputy leader and chief whip of the three-strong Labour group on the council, did not respond to requests from the Local Democracy Reporting Service for comment.
However, group secretary, Patrick Canavan, said: “There is no place for anti-Semitism in our movement.
“Hatred towards Jewish people is rising in many parts of the world and we will continue to do our utmost to drive this out and to eliminate it from our movement.”
Corbyn’s leadership has been dogged by an ongoing row over anti-Semitism among Labour activists and officials.
It culminated in Scotland Yard launching a criminal investigation into alleged hate crimes – and seven MPs quitting in protest at the failure to tackle the problem.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The party’s anti-Semitism scandal led to a record number of hate incidents in the first half of the year, a damning report has found.
Incidents included racist graffiti left at the home of Holocaust survivors, “Gas the Jews” written on a footbridge in Liverpool and 85 violent assaults.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism includes “making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising or stereotypical allegations about Jews or the power of Jews as a collective”, including the conspiracy of Jews controlling societal institutions.
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