LABOUR ROW
Who is Luciana Berger, why did she resign from the Labour Party and did she face a vote of no confidence?
LUCIANA Berger was the Labour MP for the Liverpool Wavertree constituency, before she resigned this morning.
The 37-year-old, who is Jewish, has spoken out against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party as well as Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of Brexit.
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Who is Luciana Berger?
Luciana Berger was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected again at the last general election in 2017.
She was appointed Shadow Minister for Public Health on October 8, 2013, before becoming Shadow Minister for Mental Health on September 14, 2015.
Berger is the great-niece of trade union official and Labour MP Manny Shinwell, who rose to be a Minister in the Attlee Government.
According to her website she comes from a “close Jewish family” and her dad runs a family furnishing business.
She studied at Birmingham and London Universities, and was elected to the National Union of Students (NUS) executive.
After graduating she worked for a management consultancy and then for the NHS Confederation.
She married Liverpool music manager Alistair Goldsmith in 2015 and the couple have one child.
During her time as an MP, she has faced vile anti-Semitic abuse.
At last year’s Labour conference Luciana was flanked by police protection at the party’s conference in Liverpool.
After months of vile trolling by anti-Semites, the Wavertree MP said: “We are under attack. There are Jews in this country who do not feel safe.”
Why did she resign from the Labour Party?
This morning seven Labour MPs stepped down to form a new independent party called The Independent Group.
These were Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith.
In a speech about their resignations, Berger said she cannot remain in a party that is “institutionally antisemitic”.
She says Jeremy Corbyn has failed to address hatred against Jewish people within its ranks and that she is leaving behind “a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation”.
Berger also said she has become embarrassed and ashamed to be in the Labour Party.
The seven MPs will now sit in parliament as an independent group of MPs.
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Why did the former Labour MP face a vote of no confidence?
Berger faced a vote of no confidence from local party members for criticising Jeremy Corbyn but that was withdrawn after a heated row in Labour.
An extraordinary meeting had been called in the Liverpool Wavertree constituency next week to discuss .
The motions accused Ms Berger of being against Mr Corbyn, saying: "Instead of fighting for a Labour Government, our MP is continually using the media to criticise the man we all want to be Prime Minister."
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson had earlier intervened in the controversy to offer his support to Berger in what he called her battle against "bullying hatred" from members of her local party.
He has written to Labour's general secretary Jennie Formby calling for her to suspend Berger's constituency Labour Party.
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