Rosie Duffield and I disagree on much, but I give her my whole-hearted support in tackling racism in the Labour Party.

Together with many local residents, I was pleased to see Rosie join other Labour MPs protesting outside Parliament against the rise of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.

It is shameful that some bigots in the Labour movement have reacted to the concerns expressed by moderate MPs with aggressive bullying tactics. As Rosie Duffield said in her open letter last week, Labour MPs “have been targeted with thousands of messages of hate and abuse after some dismissed the protest against antisemitism as a politically motivated smear”.

It is sad that these issues have been allowed to fester in the Labour party and have been encouraged by some extremists around Jeremy Corbyn. Our political system works best when our politicians try to improve people’s lives. We might disagree on tax, the economy and a host of domestic issues, but there has to be agreement between the parties that all communities must be involved and treated fairly as we debate the best way to make things better.

All the time Labour is struggling to stamp out racism in its membership, it is not able to take part in that wider political debate.

There are some things that are above party politics and stamping out racism is one. I stand full square behind Rosie in calling out antisemitism and I hope Jeremy Corbyn addresses this problem in his party very soon, as racism has no place in our politics at any level.

Simon Cook
Conservative Councillor & Leader of Canterbury City Council