Doncaster MP Ed Miliband says Labour left-wingers will not be 'purged'

Doncaster MP Ed Miliband says left-wingers in the Labour Party are not at risk of being ‘purged’ for speaking out in defence of sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey.
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Current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer sacked Ms Long-Bailey last week following an anti-semitism row.

Now former leader Mr Miliband, MP for Doncaster North, has said she made a "significant error of judgement" by sharing an article that contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory and that Sir Keir was right to take "very strong" action.

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But he said critics of Israeli policy still had a place in the party.

Doncaster MP Ed Miliband.Doncaster MP Ed Miliband.
Doncaster MP Ed Miliband.

And he said allies of Ms Long-Bailey who have criticised her sacking - such as former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and ex-party chair Ian Lavery - would not be disciplined for doing so.

Sir Keir removed Ms Long-Bailey from her post as shadow education secretary after she re-tweeted an article by Maxine Peake, in which the actress and campaigner suggested US police forces learnt restraint techniques - including those which led to the death of George Floyd - "from seminars with Israeli secret services".

Asked about the row on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Miliband said he did not believe Ms Long-Bailey was anti-Semitic but that she had made a mistake by appearing to endorse the comments.

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"I heard something... about how Keir wants to purge these people. He is not about purges. He wants to change the country by not having the Labour Party mired in issues which, frankly, provide a stain on us.”