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Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has fired Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an article containing a “theory of the anti-Semitic conspiracy.”
Ms. Long-Bailey retweeted an interview with actor and Labor supporter Maxine Peake.
The shadow education secretary, who was beaten by the party leadership by Sir Keir, later said she did not intend to endorse all aspects of the article.
But Sir Keir said he had to restore trust with the Jewish community.
A spokesman for the Labor leader said: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to withdraw from the hidden cabinet.
“The article Rebecca shared today contains an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
“As the leader of the Labor Party, Keir has made it clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Anti-Semitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all be vigilant against it.”
In the article, Ms. Peake spoke about the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
She said: “The tactics used by the police in the United States, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, learned from seminars with the Israeli secret services.”
In a statement on Twitter, Ms. Long-Bailey said she had issued a clarification for her retweet of the article “agreed in advance by the Office of the Labor Party Leader.”
But he added: “After the post, I was subsequently instructed to take both this agreed clarification and my original retweet of the Maxine Peake interview.
“I could not do this in good conscience without issuing a clarifying press release.
“He had asked to discuss these matters with Keir before agreeing what further steps to take, but unfortunately he had already made his decision.”
