Anti-Semitism

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lee Scott

Thursday 20th January 2011 Westminster Hall

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

Thank you, Ms Clark. I will try to be as brief as I possibly can.

I thank and pay tribute to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) and my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) for securing the debate. I particularly pay tribute to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw for everything that he does in his role as chairman of the all-party group against anti-Semitism.

A year ago in the corresponding debate to this one, I spoke about a recent visit that I had made thanks to that wonderful organisation, the Holocaust Educational Trust; I congratulate Karen Pollock of the trust on all the work that it does—long may it continue. I went with a group of students from my constituency to Auschwitz. Not long before that I had visited Theresienstadt, another of the concentration camps. When I was at Auschwitz, I shed tears at what I saw.

Little did I know then what I was in store for a few months later and today I will talk through what I personally experienced during the last general election. It was not something that I expected and I sincerely hope that the experience is not repeated for me, or any other candidate or Member of the House.

After a day of campaigning, I was walking back to my car when I was approached by two young gentlemen—I use the word “gentlemen” in its loosest sense—who said to me that I was a “Jewish pig” and “should die”. I have always been someone who has tended to use humour whenever I am particularly upset, so I said to them, “I’ll put you down as a possible. You haven’t quite made your mind up about how you are voting”. They were as shocked by that comment as I was to hear what was coming out of my mouth rather than running away and indeed they went. The significance of that incident was that they hated me because I was a Jew.

A fair number of my constituents—nearly a third—are Jewish. I also have Muslims, Christians and members of every other religion in my constituency and we live in harmony. It was not the first occasion that I have ever experienced anti-Semitism, but it was one of the first major occasions.

The anti-Semitism did not stop there; it got worse. A leaflet went out about me, saying that I was an enemy of Islam. I will briefly relay what else was said in that leaflet, which is on the internet if anyone wants to see it. People just need to google my name and the leaflet about me will come up. It said that I was an enemy of Islam because I had said in a speech—in fact, here in Westminster Hall—that President Ahmadinejad was a mad man. I stand by that comment. The leaflet said that I had said that no sane-minded person wanted war and that both Jew and Arab should live in peace but Israel had to be recognised as a country, with secure boundaries. Again, I stand by that comment. The leaflet said that I had said that Britain should buy weapons from Israel. I did not say that. Various other accusations were made in the leaflet, finishing with the claim that I was an enemy of Islam. Out of interest, the picture that was used on the leaflet seems to have me wearing a skull cap. Obviously, I wear a skull cap. I perhaps visit the synagogue a little more often than my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), but not as often as one should. None the less, that was the picture used, obviously showing that I am Jewish.

Also, I was the recipient of an e-mail saying that I should be stoned to death. I said that I could possibly accept it if someone did not elect me because they did not like me, but stoning me to death was a little on the extreme side. However, I am not ashamed to tell hon. Members that one night at home I sat down and cried. I was really upset by everything that had happened during the election campaign, which was not right. It is legitimate for someone to want to criticise someone else’s party or politics, but not their religion. I am proud to be a Member of Parliament, British and Jewish, and there is no conflict there whatsoever.

I want to give thanks to some people who supported me through that difficult period, in particular Peter Terry, the then Metropolitan police borough commander for my area, for the police protection that he provided. I had to have police officers with me at the hustings, and police patrols and a panic button at my house, which was not fair on my family, who did not stand for public office. I also want to thank the Community Security Trust, the Board of Deputies, Conservative Friends of Israel and, indeed, Labour Friends of Israel, for their phone calls and support when I was particularly down.

Do I know who was behind all this? I have some shrewd ideas, but I would never make accusations that I cannot prove. They, however, know full well who they are. In the name of politics, I can only say that this place and its politics, of whatever party, are, and deserve, better than that. I ask the Minister to take to the Government my view that we need to go a little further than the hon. Member for Bassetlaw has suggested. We need firm laws, covering every candidate in every seat, about what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour towards others, whether they be Jews, Muslims or Christians.

I also want to thank the local synagogues, and the national Union of Jewish Students who, at a difficult time, gave me a great deal of support in words—I am not talking about anything to do with elections. I pay tribute to the British League of Muslims and the Hainault and Chigwell Muslims, who put up “Vote Lee Scott” banners and went out campaigning for me. As the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) has rightly said, that has nothing to do with Islam; it is to do with far right-wing people of any religion trying to persecute others.

I return to the question of what we can do about this. One of the most important things that we can do is education. The work of the Holocaust Educational Trust is vital, but this goes beyond that, because there is the massive problem of what young people hear and see on the internet. Forgive me, Ms Clark, because I am going to break with parliamentary tradition and call someone from another party, “my hon. Friend”. I have done this before and have got into trouble, as I will again. I am talking about the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), and her work. She is far braver than I in taking a stand, because a third of my constituents are Jewish. A website has gone up with pictures of the hon. Lady and, in fact, of virtually everyone in this room, and it says that we are stooges of Israel, and vile people who should be destroyed. It has gone even further and put up pictures of MPs who are no longer even alive.

[Mr MacShane]

Those people altered my Wikipedia entry to say that I was a secret Jew, which, as a Catholic, I can disprove. I was, however, enormously flattered and honoured.

[Mr Scott]

I am happy to welcome the right hon. Gentleman as an honorary Jew, but there is no need for him to prove to us today whether he is one. I am sure that that would be ruled out of order by Ms Clark.

I finish by saying that there is a lot to be done. We have again seen the rise of anti-Semitism, but the one thing that we must be solid about is that we must not be bowed or change what we stand for—our beliefs and values. I have no doubt that, by staying united, we will defeat this, as we have done in the past. I also wish to give my apologies, as I have to leave the debate before it finishes to return to my constituency.