Jewish MP slams Labour’s silence over thug’s threat
A JEWISH Labour MP condemned her party yesterday after she was not told of threats of violence against her – and neither were the police.
Luciana Berger spoke out as she faced another wave of online abuse from Jeremy Corbyn supporters who accused her of making up the fact she had needed police protection at September’s Labour conference.
The MP spoke out for the first time about how she had been accompanied by Taser-wielding officers during the conference in her home city of Liverpool. And she criticised Labour for not having informed her about the threats.
This month the Metropolitan Police confirmed it was investigating a claim that someone had referred to Miss Berger online as a ‘Zionist Extremist’ who was ‘about (to) get a good kicking’.
The threat was reported to Labour but the party did not pass it on to the police, who only found out when handed a leaked dossier.
Miss Berger tweeted: ‘That the same people who are having a go have literally NOTHING to say that our party withheld (from me and the police) details of a physical threat against me is particularly galling.
‘I thought I joined a movement that believes in solidarity for all. Clearly not.’
The Board of Deputies of British Jews tweeted: ‘Total solidarity with Luciana Berger. It shows the dire state of Labour’s anti-Semitism problem when the threats against one of its own MPs are treated as a conspiracy theory.’
The row erupted on Thursday night after business minister Claire Perry appeared on the BBC’s Question Time where she said that Miss Berger had required police protection at the Labour conference.
Miss Berger then faced new attacks on Twitter from those who tried to deny the fact she was accompanied by police – despite photographic evidence.
One tweeter accused her of ‘disgracefully smearing’ Mr Corbyn, claiming her police protection was a ‘lie, confirmed by Merseyside Police’.
The MP shared the police statement, pointing out it had only said she did not receive ‘armed’ protection. She wrote: ‘Read it closely. The police with me weren’t carrying guns. But they had tasers and batons.
‘I’m not posting a photo of them because there are plenty out there.
‘But they were with me for the entirety of conference, when I walked to the many events outside the secure zone.
‘That so many people are so keen to attack/deny/smear/ obfuscate and I have to talk about my personal safety is indicative of a serious problem.’
Miss Berger said some people had shared ‘creepy’ photos of her without police protection but pointed out that this was only when she had been in the conference secure zone.
‘A serious problem’