John Mann, the MP who falsely accused Ken Livingstone of saying Hitler was a Zionist (he didn’t) and who discriminated against gypsy travellers in an election leaflet, has quit the Labour Party to become the Conservative government’s “anti-Semitism” tsar.

The language is ambiguous here; under the tsars, Russian Jews suffered a huge amount of persecution.

Mr Mann won the enmity of right-thinking people across the UK after he falsely accused Ken Livingstone of saying “Hitler was a Zionist” in an infamous confrontation in a stairwell, where he had somehow managed to rustle up a camera crew out of nowhere to film the moment. This move to the Conservatives casts into doubt the sincerity of everything he said and did in relation to this matter.

But his own credentials in fighting racism are not spotless; a gypsy traveller named Ben Bennett complained to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn about a leaflet Mr Mann issued in 2016, highlighting a section on “Travellers” and a passage which stated: “The police have powers to remove any Gypsies or Travellers and have powers to direct people to leave the land and remove any vehicles or property they have with them, if they believe, Trespass is occurring.”

The matter was referred to the police, who interviewed Mr Mann before sending a letter to the Bennett family, saying they had offered “advice to Mr Mann concerning the section entitled ‘Travellers’, including any further publication of the booklet, on the basis that it should identify the problem… and not single out a group of people as responsible for the problem… We also advised that any further publication of the booklet would require that the advice it contains would need to be updated.”

The letter also described Mr Mann’s behaviour as “this hate incident”.

https://twitter.com/toughermintrude/status/1170487248187482118

He’s a shady character and the Labour Party is better off without him.

So when The Sunday Times tried to describe the defection as follows…

… it sparked a tidal wave of derision:

“Are you kidding? We’re all f**king delirious! It’s like an early Christmas present!” tweeted Richard Oneill.

And there were many more comments on the same lines.

The Prole Star: “Mann gets out ahead of the trigger ballot that would have deselected him – and good riddance at long last!”

Buddy Hell: “Aren’t you overlooking the obvious? He isn’t Jewish. It’s like appointing Toby Young to the role of Women’s ‘tsar’. He’s also an anti-Gypsy racist. I guess you’re okay with anti-Gypsy racism, no?”

Kathryn Houghton: “Correction: The Labour Party is celebrating after the slithering snake @JohnMannMP FINALLY left the Labour Party to take up his rightful place working officially for his beloved Tory party.”

Rabble Cat: “If Mann jumping ship before he loses his seat in an election is Labour civil war, what would you call the mass exodus from the Tory party? Nuclear war!”

Audrey: “Oh @JohnMannMP I’m so sorry to hear this. ..you were such a great MP. Always fighting for Labour and your consti.. Just kidding.. Not a min too soon. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out. While you’re at it, can you take Watson with you? Cheers.”

Oh, and he couldn’t even get the timing of his announcement right. Hoping to get the lead on the 10 o’clock TV news bulletins, to turn the focus on allegations of Labour anti-Semitism again, he was overshadowed by the resignation from the government of Amber Rudd. Note also the comment by Suzy S:

Fellow Labour MP Wes Streeting, who has also fallen foul of This Site and many right-thinking people in the recent past, praised Mr Mann for his move – and got the response he deserved:

And one last pertinent point from Matt Thomas:

Fair comment?

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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