MP gets back Labour whip after inquiry into Gaza comment

MP gets back Labour whip after inquiry into Gaza comment

Labour has restored the whip to Edmonton MP Kate Osamor following an inquiry into a comment she made.

She was suspended in January after using a social media post marking Holocaust Memorial Day to accuse Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza.

Responding to Labour’s decision to re-admit her as a party MP, Ms Osamor said she “unreservedly” apologised for her remarks which were “inappropriate”.

She added she would “continue to reach out to Jewish stakeholders”.

“I am committed to ensuring that I don’t fall short of the highest standards. I look forward to continuing to represent my constituents of Edmonton in Westminster as a Labour MP.”

In January, Ms Osamor posted on X: “Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the millions of other people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza.”

The comment drew criticism from the Holocaust Education Trust which described the remarks as a “painful insult to survivors of the Holocaust”.

The MP swiftly apologised for “any offence caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance”.

Labour’s chief whip said she would be suspended from the parliamentary party while an investigation took place.

On Wednesday, a Labour spokesperson said Ms Osamor would be readmitted adding: “This follows a full investigation by the Labour party into complaints received about a social media post she made in January.”

Ms Osamor said: “I am grateful to the Labour party for their investigation into my conduct and I accept the outcome in full.

“I made remarks which were insensitive, inappropriate, and which I apologise for and regret.”

Keir Starmer with his new MP, Natalie Elphicke

Her readmittance to the parliamentary party comes in the same day that the Labour Party welcomed Natalie Elphicke as their newest MP.

Mrs Elphicke waited until the start of Prime Minister’s Questions to make her dramatic defection from the Conservatives to Labour.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed her move describing the Dover MP as having a “strong track record on issues such as housing”.

However, the left-wing group Momentum criticised his decision to accept her.

“This hard-right Tory should have no place in a Labour Party worthy of the name.

“It speaks volumes about Keir Starmer that he is welcoming her with open arms, while leaving Diane Abbott out in the cold.”

Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, was suspended from the parliamentary party in April 2023 after writing in the Observer newspaper that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice”, which she said is “similar to racism”.

“But they are not all their lives subject to racism,” she added.

Over a year on from her suspension, some Labour MPs, have said Ms Abbott should be brought back into the party.

Earlier this year, Sir Keir told the BBC that Ms Abbott cannot re-join the party while an independent investigation into her comments was in progress.

Some Labour shadow ministers – including Angela Rayner and Yvette Cooper – have expressed frustration at the time taken to conclude the investigation.