EJP | News | UK | British politician resigns after anti-Semitic slur

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British politician resigns after anti-Semitic slur

Updated: 05/May/2006 15:47

Chris Davies

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A leading British MEP resigned yesterday after he was revealed to have sent anti-Semitic and abusive emails to a voter.

Chris Davis, the Liberal Democrat's leader in the European Parliament, was summoned to the office of party head Sir Menzies Campbell on Thursday to explain himself. And just hours later he had quit his position.

Although he will be replaced as group leader by Baroness Ludford, it has been reported that Davies will be continuing as an MEP.

The situation arose after Davies received an email questioning his comments condemning Israel as "an apartheid state".

The politician replied "Sounds like racism to me. I hope you enjoy wallowing in your own filth".

And in a further email Davies, the leader of the 12 Liberal Democrat MEPs in the European parliament, stated that if he were to stand for reelection he would “denounce the influence of the Jewish lobby that seems to have far too great a say over the political decision-making process in many countries.”

Liberal leader?

Davies also stated that those who had experienced in Auschwitz seemed “not to care that they have themselves become oppressors.”

The correspondent responded by saying: “You make the same mistake as many others who call themselves liberals - you seem to equate the situation of the Palestinian people as being exactly the same as the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.”

The emails were reported to London-based newspaper The Jewish News, who contacted the Liberal Democrats head office for a reaction.

Although he finally apologised, the comments were considered unacceptable by Campbell, who was in the midst of preparing for Thursday's local elections.

Unacceptable comments

In a statement, Campbell said: "Chris Davies has rightly made a full apology for his remarks. I discussed this matter with him today, when we agreed that the proper course for him now is to resign as leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs.

"What he said was unacceptable and he recognises that unreservedly. Chris Davies has made a very considerable contribution to our party over a long period and I am sorry that it has become necessary for him to resign his leadership. I deeply regret the offence his remarks have caused to the Jewish community."

The resignation was welcomed by the Board of Deputies, the main representative body if the British Jewsich community.

Board Chief Executive Jon Benjamin said: “Mr Davies was taken to task by a constituent after expressing some particularly strident views on Israel and the Holocaust. Perhaps even more telling than his views on Israel and the Holocaust was the way in which he responded to a member of the electorate who wished to question him more closely on his comments.

“He appears to have shown a dismissive contempt which does nothing to suggest that he has any understanding of the sensibilities of his electorate, the complexities of politics in the Middle East or his responsibilities as an elected member of the European Parliament.”

Day in history

19 June 1933

Cardinal Pacelli issues a concordant known as the Hitler Concordant. Hitler described it as "unrestricted acceptance of National Socialism by the Vatican."

Cardinal Pacelli later became Pope Pius XII.