MP Kate Osamor has Labour whip restored after Holocaust Memorial Day submit
Labour MP Kate Osamor has had the whip restored after a three-month suspension for a post on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.
The Edmonton MP was suspended back in January after posting on social media that the conflict in Gaza should be remembered as a genocide.
The ex-Shadow Cabinet Minister said that Holocaust Memorial Day was “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 MP subsequently apologised for “any offence caused” by her post on X. She said: “I apologise for any offence caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
A Labour spokesperson confirmed today the whip had been restored to Ms Osamor following “a full investigation by the Labour Party into complaints received about a social media post she made in January”. Ms Osamor said she was “grateful” for the investigation and accepted its outcome “in full”. She added: “I want to unreservedly apologise again for my comments. I made remarks which were insensitive, inappropriate and which I apologise for and regret.
“I will continue to reach out to Jewish stakeholders and the community. 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.”
But the left-wing Momentum group said: “No Labour MP should be suspended for recognising the reality of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It is good to see that the correct outcome has been reached and this case resolved with relative speed.”
But the organisation also called on the Labour leadership to restore the whip to Diane Abbott. They added: “Keir Starmer rightly called Diane a ‘trailblazer’, amidst horrific racist abuse towards her. It’s well past time to turn words into action – and restore the whip to Britain’s first black woman MP.”
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and former Shadow Home Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has sat as independent since April last year after Labour withdrew the whip following comments over the Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities. She is awaiting the outcome of an investigation.
