Luciana Berger rejoins Labour after leaving over antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn
A former Labour MP who left the party four years ago over antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn has rejoined.
Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, quit the party in February 2019, saying she could not “remain in a party that I have today come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally antisemitic”.
But Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer revealed Ms Berger, the Liverpool Wavertree MP from 2010 to 2019, had accepted his invitation to rejoin Labour.
“My test for change was whether those who were rightly appalled by how far we had fallen believe this is their party again,” he tweeted.
“I know we’ve more to do but we’re unrecognisable from the party that forced her out.”
Sir Keir shared images of the letter he had sent to Ms Berger apologising to her “again on behalf of the whole party” for the “disgusting” antisemitic abuse she received while Mr Corbyn was leader.
He said she had been “forced out by intimidation, thuggery and racism” in a “stain on Labour’s history” and invited her back to the party.
Ms Berger lost her seat after joining the fledgling party Change UK, then later the Liberal Democrats.
In her reply to Sir Keir, Ms Berger said: “I am looking forward to rejoining the party and working with you to continue what you have started.
“It is time to replace this reckless and divisive government and ultimately make the difference our country so desperately deserves.”
Labour ‘fell into the depths of the abyss’ under Corbyn
Ms Berger said she was “pleased” with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s decision to no longer monitor the party over antisemitism, but added: “As you [Sir Keir] have rightly said, this is not a moment for celebration and there is a great deal more to do.”
She claimed the party “fell into the depths of the abyss under Jeremy Corbyn’s reign”.
“I never expected to bear witness to the volume and toxicity of anti-Jewish racism espoused by people who had been allowed to join Labour, and to experience a leadership that treated antisemitism within the party’s ranks differently to every other kind of racism – and that by refusing to condemn it, encouraged it,” she said.
“But that is exactly what happened.”
Sir Keir wrote: “Before you were forced out of the party, you were an outstanding Member of Parliament.”
He said the party and British politics are “poorer places” without her, and apologised to her for the “intolerable and unacceptable” experience she had.
“The abuse you suffered was disgusting. You were left isolated and exposed. Shamefully, those who should have defended you stood by.
“The Labour Party – our party – has always prided itself on being a party of equality, collectivism, solidarity and anti-racism.
“But during those dark days we were none of those things.”
Her return was applauded by several from the party hierarchy, including shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves who tweeted: “So pleased to have you back, Luciana.”
Peter Kyle, the party’s Northern Ireland spokesman, tweeted: “An emotional and healing moment. The Labour Party and Luciana…friends finally reunited. I’m grateful to @Keir_Starmer for making this possible, and in awe of @lucianaberger’s strength and compassion for giving us this precious second chance. Labour has changed for the better.”
Margaret Hodge, another of Labour’s critics of Mr Corbyn, said on Twitter: “Welcome back Luciana! It’s so important that those who were pushed out of the Labour Party because of vile antisemitism now feel able to return to their political home. We’ve come so far. Labour is proudly an outward looking, tolerant & inclusive party once again.”
Jewish Labour Movement added: “Our former Parliamentary Chair @lucianaberger is a hero of the Labour Movement. What happened to her under Corbyn’s leadership was a disgrace and she showed immense bravery. That she feels now is the time to rejoin shows the party is on the right track.”
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‘Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour’
Starmer rules out Corbyn standing for Labour at next election
Marking the EHRC’s decision to no longer monitor the party for antisemitism, Sir Keir ruled out allowing Jeremy Corbyn to stand as a Labour candidate in the next general election.
The human rights watchdog in 2020 found the party broke equality law over its handling of antisemitic complaints.
Mr Corbyn rejected some of the report’s findings and claimed the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” – comments which led to Labour’s headquarters suspending him from the party.
Ms Berger joined the board of online used-car retailer Cazoo in August 2021 as chair of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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