Eddie Izzard on Labour NEC after Christine Shawcroft resigns over anti-Semitism row
The comedian has been automatically elected to the National Executive Committee following Christine Shawcroft's resignation.
Sunday 1 April 2018 09:24, UK
Comedian Eddie Izzard is to replace Christine Shawcroft on Labour's ruling committee after the party official resigned amid a row over anti-Semitism.
Thirty-nine Labour MPs and peers wrote to Jeremy Corbyn on Friday calling for the leader to suspend Ms Shawcroft after she defended a candidate who posted a Holocaust denial article.
Ms Shawcroft, a leading Corbyn ally, quit her role as chair of Labour's disputes panel on Thursday after admitting she was "wrong and misguided" to have sent an email calling for a Peterborough council candidate to have his suspension lifted.
On Saturday, she again apologised for the email and announced her decision to stand down as the National Executive Commitee's chair of the disputes panel.
She will be replaced by Eddie Izzard, who received 70,993 votes from Labour Party members during 2016's NEC elections.
Izzard said later on Twitter: "Although this isn't the manner in which I had hoped to join the NEC I'm honoured to step up and represent Labour members at the heart of our party.
"This is a very important time for the Labour Party and we must stamp out completely the stain of anti-semitism from a minority of members."
Unlike Ms Shawcroft, Izzard is not considered to be a strong supporter of leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The NEC has 33 members and consists of the Labour leader, deputy leader, frontbenchers, trade union representatives, constituency party representatives, councillors and Labour MPs.
Ms Shawcroft wrote that she sent the email regarding the Peterborough council candidate "before being aware of the full information about this case and I had not been shown the image of his abhorrent Facebook post".
She said: "Had I seen this image, I would not have requested that the decision to suspend him be re-considered. I am deeply sorry for having done so."
Sky News Political Correspondent Lewis Goodall said it was not yet clear if Ms Shawcroft would be resigning from her other positions.
He added: "[It is] worth remembering that although Eddie Izzard will now ascend to the NEC, the left's majority is large enough that it doesn't matter in terms of control.
"Christine Shawcroft will also, presumably, remain close to the top of the party as a senior figure of Momentum. Or will she? Over to you, [Momentum chair] Jon Lansman."
Ms Shawcroft's admission comes as Mr Corbyn revealed there had been 300 cases of anti-Semitism referred within Labour since he became leader in 2015.
Earlier on Saturday, Labour peer Lord Sugar removed down a tweet showing Jeremy Corbyn in a car next to Hitler after it sparked a Twitter row.
The Labour leader has been embroiled in a row over anti-Semitism within the Labour party after a Facebook comment surfaced in which he had appeared to defend a mural depicting a group of Jewish financiers and white businessmen.
Ms Shawcroft wrote: "This week we have seen a clear expression of the pain and hurt that has been caused to Jewish members of our party and the wider Jewish community by anti-Semitic abuse and language, and by the reality of antisemitism being denied and downplayed by others.
"In light of this, I have decided to stand down as Chair of the Disputes Panel to ensure my wrong and misguided questions on this case do not cause doubt or anxiety about our processes.
"We must eliminate anti-Semitism from our Party and wider society. To do this we must make sure our processes are as robust as possible and have the faith and confidence of our members."