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MP QUITS LABOUR AND APOLOGISES FOR COMMENTS
MONDAY proved to be eventful for Stocksbridge and Penistone MP Angela Smith after she left the Labour Party and then faced criticism for comments she made on a live television broadcast.
The 57-year-old, who has been in office since 2011, announced her resignation from Labour along with six other MPs; Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey. Together, they have formed the Independent Group.
Angela Smith appeared on BBC Two’s Politics Live programme later in the day and speaking about BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) working-class women facing impediments in their lives, she appeared to say: “The recent history of the party I’ve just left suggests that it’s not just about being black or a funny tinge, you know, different, from the BAME community.”
The MP quickly recorded an apology and posted it to her Twitter account, saying: “I have seen the clip from Politics Live, I am very sorry about any offence caused and I am very upset that I misspoke so badly. It’s not what I am, I am committed to fighting racism wherever I find it in our society.”
In her resignation announcement, she said: “I was born to a Labour family in 1961. My father was a printer by trade and my mother started work when I was a teenager, eventually moving on to a job as a receptionist in the NHS.
“For my parents, working-class pride was not about enjoying poverty and wearing it as a badge of honour. It was about self-respect and believing that we could do better, that there was nothing wrong in getting on in life.
“This is one of the values that has underpinned my political affiliation all my life. I believe in aspiration and know that people do not want to be patronised by left-wing intellectuals who think that being poor and working class constitutes a state of grace.
“I also believe that everyone in our country bears a responsibility to make a contribution towards keeping our society safe and prosperous.
“In return, the state has a role to play in enabling individuals to make the best of themselves and the opportunities available to them. It has a responsibility to maintain national security and to keep people safe at home. And it has a responsibility to foster economic growth, in the context of a mixed economy.
“Unfortunately, the Labour Party no longer reflects these values. It has undergone major change since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2015, changes which have destroyed the proud political movement built by our predecessors.
“Labour is a party now characterised by intolerance and fuelled by hatred for anything other than a hard left political agenda; it fosters division rather than unity and despises all
