Labour council candidate is kicked out of party after sharing ‘abhorrent’ posts online that claimed Israel is ‘whipping up Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis to smear Jeremy Corbyn’
- Labour suspend Alex Braithwaite, a council candidate in Brighton and Hove
- Had shared post suggesting anti-Semitism crisis made to ‘discredit Corbyn’
- She’s still an independent candidate for the council as it’s too late to withdraw
Alex Braithwaite (pictured) was suspended by Labour for sharing a conspiracy theory post about Israel. But she remains a council candidate as it is too late to withdraw
A Labour council candidate was suspended from the party last night for spreading a series of ‘abhorrent’ conspiracy theories about Israel.
Alex Braithwaite shared a post suggesting Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis was being whipped up by Israel to discredit leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Last night she apologised and was suspended by Labour. But she remains a candidate for Brighton and Hove Council because it is too late to withdraw. If she wins she will sit as an independent.
Miss Braithwaite, pictured, shared messages supporting Ken Livingstone and claiming the Rothschild family controlled the European Central Bank.
And she posted a cartoon which suggested the BBC was controlled by the ‘terrorist state’ of Israel. The case will add to concerns Labour has been slow to respond to anti-Semitism cases.
Labour Against Anti-Semitism spokesman Euan Philipps said: ‘Alex Braithwaite has posted a series of highly offensive, anti-Semitic comments, articles and graphics on her Facebook page over several years. They are truly abhorrent, and we hope they will be investigated by Brighton police as hate speech.
‘It is unthinkable that someone who apparently holds such views, as these posts suggest, might be elected to a role of public office.’
He said Miss Braithwaite was backed by Momentum – the grassroots movement in which he said anti-Semitism was ‘endemic’ – and called for action from local Labour figures, including MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Peter Kyle.
The row comes as Labour waits to hear whether it will face a full probe by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into whether it has discriminated against Jews.
At the weekend leaked recordings emerged of Mr Corbyn (pictured with Diane Abbott) admitting Labour had ‘ignored’ cases of anti-Semitism in recent years
At the weekend leaked recordings emerged of Mr Corbyn admitting Labour had ‘ignored’ cases of anti-Semitism in recent years.
Posts shared by Miss Braithwaite included a cartoon showing BBC and CNN cameramen filming a crying Israeli child while ignoring body parts in Gaza. The caption on the cartoon described the media as ‘nothing more than an accessory to the police/terror state’.
She also spread Rothschild conspiracy theories and a post saying: ‘Is Israel’s hand behind the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn?’
Miss Braithwaite said: ‘As a black socialist woman, I have been opposed to all forms of racism and discrimination throughout my life.
‘These are old posts, which I did not write but shared on social media, before I knew about these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and I would not share them today.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously.’
Another Labour council candidate in Brighton has been suspended over sexist tweets including one message that reportedly said: ‘I love gang rape.’
Daniel Gray told The Sun he was ‘deeply and sincerely sorry for these unacceptable and sexist tweets’.