Labour’s Michael Dugher quits the party after 28 years over Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism
Labour's bosses and party HQ 'have had repeated opportunities to fix the problem', writes Dugher, 43, as he admits he has been close to tears watching colleagues abused by the hard-Left hate mob
A SENIOR Labour figure once tipped for high office is quitting the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism. Michael Dugher, 43, admits he has been close to tears watching colleagues abused by the hard-Left hate mob.
Writing in The Sun on Sunday today, he says: “It pains me to see what the Labour has become.”
Mr Dugher, a party member for nearly 30 years, served as vice-chairman in the shadow cabinet under Ed Miliband. He was also a Gordon Brown aide in No10 and the Barnsley East MP for seven years.
He writes: “Labour has been the greatest force for good for working people in British history. But the Labour Party I joined no longer exists.”
I'm quitting my beloved Labour. Corbyn's made it the Party of Anti-Semitism
By Michael Dugher
ALMOST 28 years ago to the day, I joined the Labour Party. Next week, after almost three decades, I will be resigning my membership over the party’s repeated failure to adequately tackle anti-Semitism.
All my political and adult life I have been a great friend and admirer of the Jewish community. The contribution they have made and continue to make to our country is immeasurable. The Labour Party I joined was a proud anti-racist party. Not so today.
Labour’s bosses and party HQ have had repeated opportunities to fix the problem they undoubtedly have with anti-Semitism — and they’ve repeatedly failed to do so. Words are not enough. We need action.
Jeremy Corbyn has been dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism his whole political life. His excuse always seems to be that he was “present but not involved”. That excuse just doesn’t wash any more.
Today, under his leadership, anti-Semites in the Labour Party are repeatedly let off with a rap on the knuckles, rather than being booted out for good.
Standing up to anti-Semitism is the responsibility of every decent person in Britain.
Michael Dugher
Time after time, allegations are brought to the party’s attention. But too often the Jew-haters are given a free pass. Let’s not forget that the Holocaust is within living memory. One of the great privileges of my life was to meet some of the inspirational survivors of the Holocaust.
I’ve been to Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims — somewhere Jeremy Corbyn refuses to visit. I’ve also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland with the Holocaust Educational Trust.
It does amazing work to teach our children about how 6million Jews — two thirds of the Jewish population in Europe — were systematically murdered by the Nazis. Let’s not forget that the Holocaust ended with the gas chambers, but it didn’t start there.
It started with something much earlier: Anti-Semitic language and art, scapegoating and boycotting, synagogues and cemeteries being attacked, people being physically threatened and assaulted, deranged conspiracy theories and a warped view of history. We’re seeing all of that again today in Britain.
I joined the Labour Party, aged 15, in the working-class pit village in South Yorkshire, where I grew up. I was honoured to represent nearby Barnsley for seven years as their Member of Parliament.
The Sun on Sunday Says — Corbyn's lost his core
THE failure of Jeremy Corbyn and his cronies to shake off accusations of anti-Semitism has already seriously damaged Labour.
Former Shadow Minister Michael Dugher reveals he is so sick of the reluctance to root out anti-Jewish bigotry he is quitting after nearly 30 years.
He says he no longer recognises the proud anti-racist party he joined.
If anyone still doubts how far Labour has drifted from its core support under his lame leadership, they need look no further.
I was very proud to have been Labour’s vice-chair and a Shadow Secretary of State under Ed Miliband and to have worked for Labour in government — including at No10 for Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The Labour Party has been the greatest force for good for working people in British history — from the creation of the National Health Service to the National Minimum Wage. But the Labour Party I joined no longer exists.
I will continue to have lots of dear friends in the Labour Party, including many talented MPs and hard-working local councillors who are fantastically dedicated public servants. Yet in all good conscience, I can no longer justify paying subs to a party which I now regard as institutionally anti-Semitic. For too many people, it is no longer seen as the “Labour Party” but is seen instead as the “Anti-Semitic Party”.
So many of my best friends in the Jewish community have already left the party. And that’s been entirely understandable. But if it is understandable why a Jewish person would feel the need to leave Labour, how can it be understandable for people like me to stay in the party?
I’ve fought anti-Semitism all the time I’ve been a Labour member — starting out campaigning against extremism on our university campuses when I was in the NUS and Labour Students. But today, Labour simply hasn’t done enough to root out the anti-Semites from its ranks, many of whom claim to be among Jeremy Corbyn’s most fanatical supporters.
Anti-Semites in the Labour Party are repeatedly let off with a rap on the knuckles, rather than being booted out for good.
Michael Dugher
It made me want to cry when I saw that my good friends Ruth Smeeth and Luciana Berger — both brilliant Labour MPs and brave Jewish women — had to have police protection because of the abuse and threats they have received.
But it also makes me angry when I see the attitude of people such as Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
Luciana Berger, who is eight months pregnant, faced a motion of no confidence from her local Labour Party, including by one person who branded her a “disruptive Zionist”.
Instead of backing Luciana, John McDonnell demanded she prove her loyalty to Labour. These days I am no longer a Labour MP, having chosen to stand down at the last election to try to make a difference elsewhere.
I have friends across the political divide, but it pains me to see what the Labour Party has become.
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I have always felt that the fight against anti-Semitism is a fight that should not be left to the Jewish community alone. Standing up to anti-Semitism is the responsibility of every decent person in Britain.
One of the reasons I joined Labour all those years ago was because I believed in solidarity. So in solidarity with all my Jewish friends, and everyone who abhors anti-Semitism, I’m leaving Labour. That it has come to this is truly heart-breaking.
- Michael Dugher joined the Labour Party in 1991. He is a former vice-chair of the party and was a Labour MP from 2010 to 2017.
