Labour MP Kate Osamor has whip restored after Gaza genocide comments

Labour MP Kate Osamor has regained the party whip following an investigation into a social media post she published last January.

In January, the MP for Edmonton was suspended after using a social media post commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

She said in the post: “Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, 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 comment sparked criticism with the MP swiftly apologising before then being suspended from the Parliamentary party while an investigation took place.

A Labour spokesperson confirmed that Ms Osamor had the whip restored on Wednesday, adding: “The Chief Whip has today restored the Labour whip to Kate Osamor MP. This follows a full investigation by the Labour Party into complaints received about a social media post she made in January.”

Read Next

On having the whip restored, Ms Osamor said: “I am grateful to the Labour party for their investigation into my conduct and I accept the outcome in full. 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.”

This comes after the surprise defection of Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to Labour. The addition of the MP for Dover, who has been hardline on illegal immigration and a member of the right-wing Eurosceptic Tory European Research Group (ERG), prompted upset on Labour benches.

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock was among those to question the move.

Lord Kinnock issued a warning to the party over the decision, telling The Daily Telegraph Labour has “got to be choosy to a degree about who we allow to join out party”.

“Ms Elphicke has got to decide whether she is committed to the programme and principles of the Labour Party,” he added.

One source questioned the timing of the defection announcement after what was a successful run of local elections for the party.

“A great way to reward your hard-working activists days after a brilliant set of local election results is seemingly to force them to share a party with someone diametrically opposed to everything our movement stands for,” they told i.