WORLD

Labour Candidate claimed “Zionism is the enemy of peace” then denied saying it

28 November, 2019
Oliver Down

UNN’s Oliver Down has obtained footage of the Labour Candidate for Leeds East Richard Burgon in which the video shows Mr Burgon saying “The enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists” and that “Zionism is the enemy of peace”. This footage is being claimed by @Skiplols as being from a Labour party meeting in 2016. In addition to this, on the footage these claims were made by the Daily Mail, Mr Burgon flatly denied the allegations to Andrew Neil. Whilst being anti-Zionist is not overtly anti-Semitic it is not a great look. 

 

 

 

UNN’s Oliver Down has made contact with Mr Burgon’s parliamentary office and spoke on the phone at length. Mr Burgon’s office then requested a copy of the footage before making any further comment, which Oliver Down promptly provided. Following, Jeremy Corbyn’s car crash interview that was aired on Tuesday evening Mr Burgon was sent out on the rounds of press broadcasters on yesterday morning, was this a flop from Labour HQ or was the shadow justice minister simply the best choice. 

In addition to providing Mr Burgon with the footage Oliver Down also provided 3 questions for comment. These questions were ‘Can Mr Burgon confirm this footage was from the 2016 Labour party meeting suggested by Andrew Neil?’, ‘Has Mr Burgon been investigated regarding this incident’, ‘Does Mr Burgon have any comments to the Jews of Leeds East in particular?’ 

Oliver Down has yet to receive a response to these questions. Mr Burgon currently holds a majority of 12,752 so is extremely likely to win. The scourge of anti-Semitism is widely regarded as so dangerous as it has the potential to unite the far left and the far right. This has undoubtedly been a bad week for the Labour party with Mr Corbyn’s interview and last nights YouGov poll and this footage now doing the rounds on social media is unlikely to improve matters.

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