EXCL Labour chief's 'crossing yourself' remark will lose party Catholic voters, claims MP
2 min read
A jibe about "crossing yourself" by a top Labour official risks losing the party Catholic voters, an MP has warned.
Helen Jones said that Andy Kerr, chair of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, should face further sanction over a remark he made at the party's conference last month.
Mr Kerr was forced to apologise after asking a female delegate whether she had "crossed herself" after calling her to take part in a debate.
His comments provoked outrage from Labour MPs, with one telling PoliticsHome: "I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A casual gratuitous anti-Catholic insult from the chair of Labour party conference."
The incident happened during a debate on planned changes to the party's rules. In his role as chair of the debate, Mr Kerr selected one woman with her hand up. He then said: “Did you cross yourself, there? In that case, I might not."
In a statement issued several hours after the incident, Mr Kerr apologised "unreservedly" for his comments.
He added: "I was trying to be lighthearted but what I said was ill-judged and wrong."
At last night's meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Warrington North MP Ms Jones said she had been contacted by Catholic constituents who were considering not voting Labour in future because of what Mr Kerr did.
She told PoliticsHome: "The party needs to to listen to the Catholic community more and take steps to repair the damage that's been done by this remark."
Jeremy Corbyn was present at the meeting but did not make any response to Ms Jones's comments.
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