AN ACTIVIST was left furious today after a Tory MP used smears against Jeremy Corbyn to attack her for raising concerns over human rights breaches in the policing Bill.
Richard Holden posted a Facebook comment about the former Labour leader in response to a constituent, Laura Nicol, who had demanded protection for human rights against the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The Tory MP for North West Durham visited Ms Nicol’s profile page and said he noticed she had a “restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn” tag. Mr Corbyn was denied the Labour whip by his successor Keir Starmer after he said the scale of anti-semitism in Labour had been exaggerated by his political opponents.
Mr Holden wrote: “I find it odd therefore that you talk about protecting fundamental rights when Mr Corbyn, who is a terrorist supporting anti-semite, was quite happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hamas and the IRA who are against fundamental rights, such as the right to life, if it serves political ends.”
Mr Corbyn’s son, Tommy Corbyn responded on Twitter with: “Words have consequences. People are influenced.
“It’s unbelievable that an MP is making these kinds of remarks on a public forum. We already know exactly where it leads. @RicHolden you’re a disgrace.”
He attached news headlines from when his father was targeted by rightwingers, including where a man spat at Mr Corbyn in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and avoided jail time.
Ms Nicol told the Star: “I think it was outrageous actually, an elected representative being so unprofessional to his constituents.
“He should be addressing our concerns. Instead he tries to deflect from the issues by spreading misinformation and untruths about a completely unrelated issue.”
Mr Corbyn’s lawyers are preparing to take legal action against the Tory MP, whose comment received condemnation from Twitter users.
Mr Holden won his seat in the 2019 general election and it is not the first time he has faced legal action.
Until 2017, he worked as an aide to then-defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon but was forced to resign after he was accused of groping a woman in her 20s at a party in December 2016.
He was cleared of sexual assault in November 2020 although evidence against him was given by PM Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds and former home secretary Sajid Javid, who spoke in support of the victim.
Mr Holden said: “I have been very surprised that various members of the Labour Party have been upset by me highlighting the sympathies shared between Mr Corbyn and the IRA and Hammas.
“I’d always thought that they were proud of the association, which is why Mr Corbyn and Mr Livingstone met convicted IRA terrorists in Parliament as far back as 1984, just two weeks after members of the IRA had attempted to assasinate the Prime Minister.
“I look forward to Mr Corbyn explaining his sympathies in greater depth in the High Court.”
Published at morningstaronline.co.uk
