Burgon Strikes Again
I sometimes get teased for being thick because I spurned university to join up and serve when I was 19. Then I see what a Cambridge degree and career in politics does for this guy and so many others of my colleagues, and think I got it about right. pic.twitter.com/NDynyr2IiA— Johnny Mercer MP (@JohnnyMercerUK) October 23, 2019
Richard Burgon is a devoted (some would say deluded) 'Corbynista' - and it shows in this hilarious clip with Kay Burley from Sky News.
Corbyn's Cronies (10/05/19)
I think this speaks for itself really. Something is very wrong with our public sphere. twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/s…
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Jeremy Corbyn's shadow justice secretary is not the brightest button in the box, but here Richard Burgon gets well and truly skewered by the BBC's Emma Barnett over his claim that Zionism is "the enemy of peace".
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/103778/watch-richard-burgon-insists-he-did-not-lie-over?
WATCH: Richard Burgon insists he 'did not lie' over Zionism comments
By Kevin Schofield - Politics Home
A senior Labour frontbencher has insisted he did not lie when he wrongly claimed not to have described Zionism as "the enemy of the peace".
Richard Burgon is the Shadow Justice Secretary.
Credit: PA Images
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon was plunged into a row last month when footage emerged of him using the phrase during a speech in 2014.
Asked by journalist Andrew Neil two years later whether he had done so, Mr Burgon denied it and insisted those were not his views.
Richard Burgon expresses ‘regret’ at branding Zionism ‘the enemy of peace’ following backlash
WATCH: Richard Burgon accused of 'misleading public' over Zionism 'the enemy of peace' claim
But in April, video footage emerged of the MP delivering a speech in 2014 - a year before he became MP for Leeds East - in which he said: "The enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists and Zionism is the enemy of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people."
Mr Burgon also said: “I make no apologies – and I am proud to say not only wouldn’t I be a member of Labour Friends of Israel, I’ve never been a member of Labour Friends Of Israel.”
Asked about the row on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Burgon said: "I certainly didn't lie. I was first asked by a newspaper in 2016 whether I had made such a declaration. I asked them when I was meant to have said it and where, they couldn't tell me.
"Fast forward two years later to 2018 and your colleague, Andrew Neil, asked me if I'd made that comment in a meeting in 2016. And then a year after that, a video came to light - not of 2016 but actually from 2014, five years ago before I was even a Member of Parliament."
Asked again why he had lied, Mr Burgon said: "I've just explained, I didn't lie."
Credit: PA Images
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon was plunged into a row last month when footage emerged of him using the phrase during a speech in 2014.
Asked by journalist Andrew Neil two years later whether he had done so, Mr Burgon denied it and insisted those were not his views.
Richard Burgon expresses ‘regret’ at branding Zionism ‘the enemy of peace’ following backlash
WATCH: Richard Burgon accused of 'misleading public' over Zionism 'the enemy of peace' claim
But in April, video footage emerged of the MP delivering a speech in 2014 - a year before he became MP for Leeds East - in which he said: "The enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists and Zionism is the enemy of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people."
Mr Burgon also said: “I make no apologies – and I am proud to say not only wouldn’t I be a member of Labour Friends of Israel, I’ve never been a member of Labour Friends Of Israel.”
Asked about the row on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Burgon said: "I certainly didn't lie. I was first asked by a newspaper in 2016 whether I had made such a declaration. I asked them when I was meant to have said it and where, they couldn't tell me.
"Fast forward two years later to 2018 and your colleague, Andrew Neil, asked me if I'd made that comment in a meeting in 2016. And then a year after that, a video came to light - not of 2016 but actually from 2014, five years ago before I was even a Member of Parliament."
Asked again why he had lied, Mr Burgon said: "I've just explained, I didn't lie."
“Those are not my views… I didn’t lie” – Richard Burgon, shadow justice secretary, when asked about his previous remarks on Zionism being the "enemy of the peace"@RichardBurgon | #newsnight
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Amid calls for Jeremy Corbyn to sack him from Labour's front bench, Mr Burgon said he "regretted" the words he had used in the 2014 speech.
“As I have subsequently said on numerous occasions when asked about this, I do not agree with that phrase,” he said.
“I recognise that such a phrase fails to distinguish between those seeking a peaceful solution in line with international law, and those, such as the current Israeli government, which is undermining efforts towards peace.
“The terminology has different meanings to different people and the simplistic language used does not reflect how I now think about this complex issue and I would not use it again today."
