Shamed Labour MP Kate Osamor who quit over her son’s drug conviction is embroiled in an anti-Semitism row after defending expelled party member
- Kate Osamor stood down as the party’s international development spokesman
- The 50-year-old has now defended former party member Marc Wadsworth
- Mr Wadsworth from Birmingham was expelled from the Labour party in 2016
- He accused Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth of working ‘hand-in-hand’ with the right-wing media
Kate Osamor (pictured above) previously said she was stepping down from the party to support her family
A disgraced Labour MP who resigned from the shadow cabinet over her son’s drug conviction has expressed her ‘solidarity’ with a member kicked out of the party following an anti-Semitism row.
Kate Osamor, 50, stood down as the party’s international development spokesman after it emerged she had lied about her involvement in the trial of her son Ishmael.
She has now defended former party member Marc Wadsworth by saying she feels he has been through a ‘very difficult time’, the Times reported last night.
Mr Wadsworth was expelled from the party in 2016 after accusing Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth of working ‘hand-in-hand’ with the right-wing media at the launch of a report into fighting anti-Semitism in the party.
In a speech at a conference on Saturday, Mr Wadsworth criticised the media for peddling ‘fake news’ in its reporting of his case.
Later he was in the audience at the Media Democracy Festival in London when he asked Miss Osamor about abuse suffered by MPs, to which she replied: ‘I send my solidarity to you, because you have personally been through a very difficult time.’
Kate Osamor had quit her role following the conviction of her son Ishmael Osamor (pictured above) who was sentenced to community service
Marc Wadsworth (pictured above) was suspended from the Labour Party following a complaint of anti-semitism against him
Mr Wadsworth later wrote on Twitter that he was ‘heartened’ by her comments.
He added that she had ‘reinforced my point about unprecedented online and MSM (sic) abuse’ that MPs such as Diane Abbott had suffered without
Conservative MP Andrew Percy, who is also vice-chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, called her comments a ‘staggering example of the casual approach to anti-Semitic racism at the top of today’s Labour Party’.
He added: ‘Sadly, we all know that nothing will be done and brave Labour MPs like Ruth Smeeth will continue to be subjected to hateful abuse for simply standing up for decency and against hate.’
Marc Wadsworth had accused Ruth Smeeth (pictured above) as working hand-in-hand with the right wing media
Friends of Miss Osamor told the paper that she made the controversial remarks because Mr Wadsworth looked poorly and it made her concerned. The pair have known each other for more than thirty years.
They added that she was not talking directly about the scandal which resulted in Mr Wadsworth being removed from the party.
Miss Osamor made the comments while taking part in a panel alongside fellow Labour MP Clive Lewis.