Emily Thornberry has defended her claim that antisemitism played a role in a Labour Party row over bullying.
A spokesman for Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary said she had referred to “antisemitism” because it was mentioned in an online debate about a meeting on Saturday at which a female activist was allegedly subjected to sexist bullying.
The senior Labour politician was heavily criticised after she made the comments on ITV’s Peston on Sunday show yesterday. She said she was referring to “extraordinary and untrue allegations” being made about the meeting of Labour’s National Policy Forum.
Ms Thornberry’s aide told the JC: “In her remarks on Peston, Emily was referring to a Twitter exchange between Chris Williamson MP, who was dismissing the mistruths being spread around the NPF row, and a Labour councillor, who responded that - by doing so - he was excusing antisemitism and misogyny.
