Newly-elected Peterborough MP Lisa Forbes has apologised for liking an anti-Semitic post on Facebook, saying: “I don’t have a bad bone in my body towards any race of people.”
The Labour politician came under fire during the by-election campaign after it emerged she had liked a post saying Theresa May had a “Zionist slave masters agenda”.
Speaking to Sky News after her narrow victory was announced, Forbes said: “I have no issue with any community. I think anti-Semitism is abhorrent.
“I actually liked a video of children praying about what had happened in New Zealand and hadn’t paid much attention to the text above.
“I apologised for that and I’m really sorry. I just hope that people will understand that I don’t have a bad bone in my body towards any race of people and anti-Semitism is just something I condemn completely.”
But Forbes’ election – which saw Labour beat the Brexit Party by just 683 votes – has not been universally welcomed by Labour MPs.
Influential backbencher Jess Phillips said that while she was glad Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party had lost the seat, she could not be “gleeful or proud” because “it shows that anti-Semitism is becoming normal in the party”.
“Lisa ignored and endorsed anti-Semitic things,” the Birmingham Yardley MP wrote on Twitter.
“I’ll take her explanation and apology at face value and look forward to her proving as others have that action not excuses alone can heal.
“But with every case the party’s values chip away and our ability to stand up against hate erodes.”
Earlier she had tweeted that the election had “normalised” anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile Jewish MP Margaret Hodge – who has previously challenged Jeremy Corbyn over anti-Semitism in the party – said she had “seriously mixed feelings” about the result.
“I never want to see Nigel Farage’s party in parliament. But Lisa Forbes & the Labour Party have a lot to answer for. We must learn lessons & never have a repeat of this,” she said, adding that she had raised formal concerns with party leadership.
Among Conservative MPs, Tory leadership hopefuls lined up to argue that the Peterborough result showed the party was at risk of opening the door of Number 10 for Jeremy Corbyn.
Dominic Raab tweeted on Friday: “Last night’s result shows yet again that we must get on and deliver Brexit by the end of October. Failure to do so would not only break our promise to voters, it risks delivering Jeremy Corbyn by the backdoor.”
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the Tories must push through Brexit by Halloween or “we risk Brexit Party votes delivering Corbyn to No10”.