Quotes of the day 24th August 2018

Here are the responses of three Labour MPs to the video of Jeremy Corbyn, at a meeting five years ago while he was a backbench Labour MP and before he became Labour Leader, saying that a group of "thankfully silent Zionists" at an earlier meeting "do not understand English irony" despite having lived here for a long time and possibly all their lives.

The Jewish Chronicle report on the story is here and includes a link to a recording of a major part of the event which allows you to see the full speech in context. Jeremy Corbyn started speaking about seven minutes into that recording. They have also published here a piece by Daniel Sugarman explaining why he thinks Jeremy Corbyn's comments were racist.

Quote 1

"Just seen the video of Jeremy Corbyn talking about irony and Zionism. 
Scream at me all you want but
   a) yes troubling to see and hear that and 
   b) yes think he should account for tone, content and co speakers. 

We will not heal this pain unless we speak our truths on all fronts. "

(Stella Creasey MP)


Quote 2

"The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments - defended by a party spokesman - makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party. I’ve lived in Britain all my life and I don’t need any lessons in history/irony."

(Luciana Berger MP)


Quote 3

"The language used here is inexcusable and abhorrent. The same old hackneyed quotes from a spokesperson won’t do. 
I wasn’t silent when Boris Johnson insulted my Muslim constituents and I won’t remain silent when Labour’s Leader insults my Jewish constituents. 
This is plain wrong." 

(Wes Streeting MP)

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