Labour says 'action will be taken' against Jewish MP who called Jeremy Corbyn 'anti-Semitic and racist'
4 min read
A Jewish Labour MP who called Jeremy Corbyn "an anti-Semitic racist" will be disciplined by the party, it has emerged.
A spokesman for the Labour party said "action will be taken" against Margaret Hodge following her shock outburst.
The confrontation happened after Labour's National Executive Committee endorsed a controversial new code of conduct on anti-Jewish abuse.
Jewish groups, religious leaders and Labour MPs have reacted angrily after party bosses refused to fully endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.
Barking MP Mrs Hodge, who served as a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, confronted Mr Corbyn behind the Speaker's Chair in the House of Commons following a series of Brexit votes.
According to HuffPost, she told him: "You’re a f*****g anti-Semite and a racist. You have proved you don’t want people like me in the party."
The Labour leader responded: "I’m sorry you feel like that."
But a friend of Mrs Hodge, who lost relatives in the Holocaust, insisted she had not sworn at the Labour leader.
"She said 'you are an anti-Semitic racist'," said the friend. "When he protested, she said 'it is not what you say but what you do and by your actions you have shown you are an anti-Semitic racist'."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said Mrs Hodge's behaviour was "clearly unacceptable".
He added: "The rules of the Parliamentary Labour Party are quite clear, that colleagues have to treat each other with respect and not bring the party into disrepute and that is why action will be taken."
The spokesman was unable to say what the action would be, or whether any investigation had been carried out into what happened.
Labour figures weighed in to defend Mrs Hodge after the spokesperson's intervention.
The incident once again highlighted the tensions within the party on the issue of anti-Semitism.
On Monday evening, Labour MPs backed a motion calling on the party's NEC to back the IHRA guidelines on the issue.
At a heated meeting on Tuesday, the ruling body decided to uphold general secretary Jennie Formby's decision to introduce a new code of conduct which stops short of fully endorsing that definition.
However, they did agree to hold a consultation on the issue with Jewish groups.
Meanwhile, the spokesman also said that the four Brexit-backing Labour MPs who saved Theresa May by voting with the Government on the Trade Bill will be "dealt with in the normal way".
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