Corbyn supporter Diane Abbott tells Ilford North MP Wes Streeting he should ‘consider his position’
MP Wes Streeting - Credit: Archant
Ilford North MP Wes Streeting has asked a senior Labour MP to “clarify what she meant” when telling him to “consider his position”.
Diane Abbott, Labour’s shadow secretary for health, told Sky News this morning Mr Streeting should “consider his position”.
Mr Streeting had criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s appointment of Shami Chakrabarti to the House of Lords following her report on the Labour Party’s anti-Semitism inquiry.
The human rights lawyer and civil liberties campaigner was asked to head the inquiry by the Labour leader and accepted the peerage yesterday.
Earlier today, the Ilford North MP slammed the nature and timing of Ms Chakrabarti’s appointment to Parliament’s second chamber.
He also warned Ms Abbott that if there was a new election in Ilford North with “a Corbynist candidate” it would result in a Conservative victory.
“I have considered my position and I have taken the view that I should stand up for what I believe in,” he told the Recorder.
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He said he agreed with the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and as a result of Mr Corbyn’s decision, “the credibility of the Chakrabarti Report lies in tatters”.
“Let’s not pretend that the timing and the nature of this appointment doesn’t stink,” he said.
“I have a lot of respect for Shami Chakrabarti and her work as a campaigner for civil liberties and human rights. I do think she will make an excellent contribution to the house of lords but there are questions to be answered about the timing and nature of this appointment,” he continued.
He added Mr Corbyn’s decision to appoint Ms Chakrabarti was “a terrible error of judgement” and had diverted the attention from the row over David Cameron’s resignation honours list, where he was accused of “cronyism”.
Mr Streeting’s comments sparked a debate on Twitter with some residents backing him and others calling for him to be deselected.
