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19
Feb
Andrew Jones MP has questioned why the Liberal Democrats failed to act sooner on anti-semitic posts by the leader of their party in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
The Lib Dems today cut ties with Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone, after she described Jews as “vile” and “horrendous” in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter.
It has since emerged Cllr Marsh's X account contains hundreds of similar comments about the Israel-Gaza situation dating back a month.
Conservative MP Mr Jones said:
Mr Jones added he had raised concerns previously with Lib Dem leader Ed Davey about a breach of councillor standards by Cllr Marsh. He said:
The Stray Ferret asked Mr Gordon, who will bid to unseat Mr Jones in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election, if he wished to respond to his rival's comments. We also asked Cllr Bryn Griffiths, the leader of the Lib Dems on North Yorkshire Council.
We received a response from a party media spokesperson saying:
The Lib Dems also flagged up a tweet by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism, which commended the Lib Dems on its "swift and decisive handling of this matter".
Anti-semitism campaigner Steve Cooke highlighted Cllr Marsh's tweets today.
[embed]https://twitter.com/Steve_Cooke/status/1759545576939475419[/embed]
Although Cllr Marsh is no longer part of the Lib Dem group, she remains a North Yorkshire councillor.
Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of North Yorkshire Council, suggested Cllr Marsh's comments could be criminal.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
Chris Watt, who hopes to get the Labour Party nomination to stand against Conservative Julian Smith in Skipton and Ripon at the next general election, said:
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