A Labour Party member has been suspended pending an investigation into a tweet suggesting that a BBC presenter was a “zionist.”
Jeremy Corbyn was left floundering on Monday when Emma Barnett, the presenter of Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, repeatedly asked him how much his new childcare pledge would cost. A number of Corbyn supporters then attacked Barnett on social media, with some suggesting she was a zionist.
The Twitter feed of Labour Insider demanded to know whether “allegations” that the presenter was a zionist were “true”. The account is run by the blog of the same name, which was set up by the Labour member Phillip Jones, who has insisted he did not personally post the offending tweet, which was the subject of a number of complaints.
One senior Labour source told the website Politics Home, which broke the story: “It was judged to be conduct prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the party. Phillip Jones has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.”
A statement from the party said: “The Labour Party takes all allegations of abuse and antisemitic behaviour seriously. As Jeremy Corbyn made clear at the launch of Labour’s race and faith manifesto, we will not tolerate it.”