Far-Left activists continue Yom Kippur effort to oust Jewish Labour MP critical of anti-Semitism in party

Critics decried the scheduling of the motion, which was seen as a ploy to prevent MP Louise Ellman from participating in her own defense.

By Benjamin Kerstein, The Algemeiner

A Jewish Labour MP who has been outspoken on the issue of anti-Semitism within her party is facing two more attempts to force her out of office a day before a no-confidence motion against her is set to be considered on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Critics decried the scheduling of the motion, which was seen as a ploy to prevent MP Louise Ellman from participating in her own defense.

The motion expresses no confidence in Ellman because she has expressed understanding of Jewish concerns about Labour anti-Semitism and has criticized party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Jewish Chronicle reported that far-left elements in Ellman’s local Constituency Labour Party (CLP) proposed two further motions against Ellman, calling an emergency meeting to discuss them on Monday evening.

Moderate Labour activist Luke Akehurst called the move “vicious bullying” and compared it to the treatment of Luciana Berger, a Jewish MP who quit Labour over the anti-Semitism issue.

“The targeting of these two Jewish MPs cannot be coincidental — it stinks of antisemitism and misogyny,” he said.

However, Akehurst noted, the motions in and of themselves could not force Ellman out. This could only be done by means of a “trigger ballot.” Instead, he believed the motions were a tactic “designed to sap her morale before the trigger-ballot selection process.”

He decried “a pattern of bullying Dame Louise by hard-left activists in her CLP since 2015,” the year Corbyn became the head of Labour.

An anonymous source in Ellman’s local Labour party organization noted a general campaign of contempt against Ellman, noting, “There are several regular attendees at meetings of the Liverpool Riverside Party who delight in standing up and addressing Louise as ‘the MP’ or at best ‘Ms. Ellman’ to her face.”

“This is despite the fact that when she attends meetings — and she normally does — Louise makes a point of telling members to call her by her first name,” the source noted.

“It’s quite disgusting to watch and see — but it’s been going on for months now,” said the source.