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Chair of CLP accused of bullying Luciana Berger appeared on show broadcast by David Icke
Shocking revelation comes amid row over Jewish MP's treatment by Liverpool Wavertree Labour
February 11, 2019 08:52
Shocking revelation comes amid row over Jewish MP's treatment by Liverpool Wavertree Labour
February 11, 2019 08:52The chair of the Liverpool Wavertree Labour Party - which is facing claims of antisemitic bullying by local members against MP Luciana Berger - made repeated appearances on a current affairs show broadcast by conspiracy theorist David Icke.
Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, who is a member of the pro-Corbyn Jewish Voice For Labour group, has been a regular guest on the Richie Allen on David Icke.com show since 2015.
The news Dr Scott-Samuel apepared on the show will come as a huge embarassment to those defending his constituency Labour Party against accusations it bullied Ms Berger with two motions of no confidence against her over her repeated public criticism of Jeremy Corbyn's failure to deal with Jew-hate within the party.
Mr Icke, an infamous conspiracy theorist, has spoken of "the global conspiracy ‘Rothschild-Zionism, a secret society putting its agents in places of power’ – and listed Jewish people he says are part of the plot.
He has also claimed he isn’t an antisemite because the "Jews are really reptiles".
Mr Allen - who has continued to invite Dr Scott-Samuel on his show since splitting from Mr Icke to air his shows on his own website - hosted notorious antisemite Gilad Atzmon last July, former KKK Grand Master David Duke in 2016 and self-described "Holocaust revionist" Alison Chabloz in 2018.
Alex Sobel, the Jewish Labour MP for Leeds North West, tweeted that Mr Icke and Mr Allen were "fermentors of antisemitic thought and draw people into a series of conspiracy theories".
"Sharing a platform with these men is incompatible with Labour membership," he wrote.
Both the @davidicke and @RichieAllenShow are fermentors of anti-semitic thought and draw people into a series of Conspiracy Theories. Sharing a platform with these men is incompatible with @UKLabour membership
— (((Alex Sobel MP))) (@alexsobel) February 10, 2019
The news about Dr Scott-Samuel, who is a senior lecturer in public health at the University of Liverpool, came after Wavertree Constituency Labour Party members were forced to defend themselves against claims they were relentlessly attacking Jewish MP Ms Berger.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson had urged the party to investigate the Wavertree CLP executive over claims of bullying and antisemitism against Ms Berger but on Saturday, General Secretary Jennie Formby ruled this out on constitutional grounds.
In a statement on Sunday, Dr Scott-Samuel and Wavertree CLP secretary Nina Houghton defended their decision to approve a no confidence motion against Ms Berger weeks before she was due to give birth.
The motion said that Dr Scott-Samuel is "himself Jewish and the suggestion the CLP executive is in any way party to bullying and antisemitism is a slanderous accusation."
They also claimed they had not acted improperly by selecting two motions of no confidence against Ms Berger to be debated.
Dr Scott-Samuel had proposed the second of two motions of no confidence tabled last week.
The JC has also learned that Dr Scott-Samuel has regularly made claims about Israel subverting UK democracy, while also claiming Labour antisemitism claims are smears to undermine Mr Corbyn.
Dr Scott-Samuel, who posted a photo of himself and Mr Corbyn at last year's Labour conference, also once posted a claim that Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth was "the enemy within?"
Dr Scott-Samuel has also said “Isis, Boko Haram and Zionism are genocidal terrorists”.
In another tweet, he shared a picture of him meeting Mr Corbyn, saying he had discussed “victimisation of anti-Zionists” with the Labour leader.
When asked about his appearances on the shows, Dr Scott-Samuel told the JC: "I don't enquire into the ownership of media when I do interviews with them.”
He refused to answer questions about his decision to table a motion of no confidence against Ms Berger only weeks before she was due to give birth.
Last week, Ms Berger was branded a "dirty little Zionist rat" and taunted with abuse, including "All Jews together, the c**ts" on a pro-Corbyn Facebook page.
Ms Berger - who was told her CLP dropped the no confidence vote against her on Friday following an intervention from the Labour leadership - was also taunted with suggestions she was an "agent of a foreign power", an "Israel attack dog" and "Tory scum" who "f**ked her way into a job" on pro-Corbyn websites last week.
CLARIFICATION: An earlier story attributed abusive messages sent to Luciana Berger to the Facebook page of Liverpool Walton CLP. This was not the case and the story has been amended.
