Alan Duncan faces discrimination complaint after Israel outburst - The Jewish Chronicle

An official complaint has been lodged against former Conservative minister Sir Alan Duncan for comments he made suggesting that Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick took his script from “the Israelis”.

The complainant, whom the JC understands is a party member living in Finchley and Golders Green, alleges that Duncan breached the party’s code of conduct which prohibits discrimination against “protected characteristics” – such as race and religion – as defined by the Equality Act.

Last month, during the Conservative Party’s leadership election, Duncan claimed that candidate Robert Jenrick, whose wife is Jewish and was born in Israel, “takes his script entirely from the Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israelis” and that it would be a “disaster if he were leader of the Conservative Party.”

Duncan, who served as foreign minister in Theresa May’s government, also told YouTube channel Palestine Deep Dive that Jenrick was “an extremist,” and that “he does not believe in any kind of two state solution, although he says he does. He knows nothing about it.”

At the time, Duncan’s comments were condemned by both Jenrick and his leadership rival Kemi Badenoch, who since became leader of the Conservative Party. In a statement, the Conservative Party said it “has an established Code of Conduct and formal processes. If a complaint is made it is reviewed thoroughly and may result in an investigation or the matter being dismissed. This process is rightly confidential.”

Duncan denied his comments were antisemitism and told The Sun: “This is textbook ‘abusemitism’ where they make unjustified accusations of antisemitism in order to bully or silence. I will not be silenced.

“I defend international law. He does not. Will he say unequivocally that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal? If he does not, then he is not fit to be leader of the Conservative Party.”

In a further statement he clarified: "My interview specifically excluded family links as mattering, stating that being Jewish doesn’t mean you necessarily agree with Netanyahu.”

The Conservative Party was contacted for comment regarding the new complaint submitted against Duncan but had not, at the time of writing, not offered any comment about it.

The party also refused to comment on the status of Duncan’s membership of the Conservatives and whether it had been suspended.

In July this year, the JC exclusively revealed that Duncan had his membership of the Conservative Party restored after he was investigated for comments made on radio station LBC in April.

The former minister told broadcaster Nick Ferrari that he wanted to “flush out” pro-Israel “extremists” in government and called for a full arms embargo on Israel.

Duncan, who represented Rutland and Melton in Parliament from 1992-2019, claimed that that pro-Israel group Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) “has been doing the bidding of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government to exercise undue influence at the top of government.”

He called for the expulsion of CFI Honorary President Lord Stuart Polak from the House of Lords and said that “he is exercising the interests of another country, not that of the Parliament in which he sits.”

At the time, a Conservative Party spokesman told the JC, "Following a two-month investigation, an independent panel has reviewed the complaint and dismissed it", a decision that was condemned by groups including the Campaign Against Antisemitism and Antisemitism Policy Trust.

National Jewish Assembly chair Gary Mond told the JC he resigned from his 47-year membership of the party over their decision not to take action against Duncan and that it was “an utter disgrace that the Conservative Party is unable to stand by CFI in refusing to even criticise, much less take disciplinary action against, Sir Alan Duncan on account of his accusations.”

Sir Alan Duncan has been contacted for comment.

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