Former Labour minister Ivan Lewis quits party citing antisemitism concerns
Written by News on 20/12/2018
Ex-Labour minister Ivan Lewis has quit the party as he expressed doubts about Jeremy Corbyn’s willingness to fight antisemitism.
The Bury South MP resigned from Labour on Thursday with “great sadness”, but told Mr Corbyn in a letter: “All too often you have been unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred.”
Mr Lewis, 51, has been suspended by Labour since November last year amid an investigation into an allegation of sexual harassment.
He has denied ever making non-consensual sexual comments or sexual advances towards women.
In his resignation letter to Mr Corbyn, Mr Lewis claimed he has never been interviewed about the complaints made against him.
He also hit out at a “politically motivated delay” in dealing with his case.
“Emails the party were forced to make available to me show clearly the party could have moved forward with the disciplinary process from April but chose not to for political reasons,” he wrote.
“This unnecessary and politically motivated delay occurred despite the fact that the party was fully aware of the impact the situation was having on my mental health.”
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(c) Sky News 2018: Former Labour minister Ivan Lewis quits party citing antisemitism concerns
