Lisa Forbes
 Lisa Forbes     (politician) | ||||||||||
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 Elected at the 2019 Peterborough by-election | ||||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||
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Lisa Forbes is a British Labour Party politician who was elected to be Member of Parliament at the Peterborough by-election on Thursday 6 June 2019, defeating the Brexit Party candidate by 683 votes.
Lisa Forbes had been the Labour candidate for the seat in the 2015 General Election, decreasing the Conservative majority, but was not selected for the UK/2017 General Election.[1]
Contents
"Bring on a General Election"
On 7 June 2019, SKWAWKBOX reported:
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited Peterborough again today, this time to congratulate Lisa Forbes, the party’s newest MP, following last night’s spectacular by-election victory with an increased majority – in spite of the lower turnout than in the 2017 General Election.
Corbyn paid tribute to Ms Forbes and the ‘fantastic Labour team’ of hundreds of campaigners on their ‘incredible victory’ and talked of the ‘politics of hope’ Labour offers to undo the damage done by nine years of Tory government – before telling the Tories to get on with giving the country a meaningful choice:
- "We are ready for a General Election at any time. Bring it on."[2]
Campaigning
On 1 June 2019, Jeremy Corbyn tweeted:
- Labour members from across the country have come to Peterborough to campaign for @LisaForbes_ - Labour's brilliant candidate in the Peterborough by-election. Lisa has lived in Peterborough for 30 years and is dedicated to improving the lives of all the people in this community.[3]
On 3 June 2019, Labour Party Chair, Ian Lavery tweeted:
- The people of Peterborough need a strong local person as their MP. Someone you can all rely and depend on. @UKLabour candidate is the brilliant @LisaForbes_ Vote for Lisa this Thursday she’ll be a terrific representative in the HOC.[4]
Stop the rise in crime
In her campaign video, Lisa Forbes accused the Government of not spending “a single penny” to prevent crime in Peterborough:
- “Whilst out speaking to voters in the past few weeks, one issue has been coming up again and again, and that issue is the rising crime in our city.
- “It seems that every day I hear hours stories of burglaries not investigated, drug dealing on our streets, and assaults becoming more common.
- “But this is a problem with a solution.
- “In the last few years, Cambridgeshire Police has had nearly £27 million slashed from its budget by this Conservative Government, and nearly £1.4 million has been cut from a crime prevention budget by Peterborough’s Tory council.
- “Not a single penny is spent locally on preventing crime.
- “This is why crime is on the rise and why our streets don’t feel safe.
- “As your Member of Parliament, I will fight to get proper funding for our police, get bobbies back on the beat, and make Peterborough safe again.
- “Vote for me in this election to stop the rise in crime.”[5]
Attacked by Israel lobby
Accused of antisemitism by Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Simon Johnson, the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, and David Delew, chief executive of the Community Security Trust, Lisa Forbes said she would undertake antisemitism training regardless of whether she was elected. “Antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place in our society,” she said. “Standing up against hatred towards one group of people must never be allowed to become hatred of another."[6]
"Outrageous" attacks
In response to the accusation, Peter Gregson, chair of Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR), described the attacks by the Israel lobby on Lisa Forbes as "outrageous":
LAZIR stands by our Labour candidate for Thursday’s [6 June 2019] election, for she has done nothing wrong, although an article in The Guardian suggests she has. Her interest in the Middle East and support for Palestine is to be applauded.
We condemn the outrageous attack on Lisa by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust.
These people are the enemies of Labour and ruthlessly promote their Zionist agenda for racist ends.
We hope Lisa is victorious at Peterborough on Thursday, for she promotes true Labour values of social justice, anti-racist ethics and support for wronged minorities.[7]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:LAZIR condemns persecution of prospective Member of Parliament by Israel lobby groups | Article | 3 June 2019 | Nureddin Sabir | LAZIR described the attacks on Lisa Forbes by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, and the Israeli secret service-linked Community Security Trust as “outrageous”. |
References
- ↑ "Labour Party candidate Lisa Forbes wins Peterborough by-election"
- ↑ "Video: Corbyn meets Labour’s newest MP – and says bring on a General Election"
- ↑ "Labour's brilliant candidate in the Peterborough by-election"
- ↑ "Vote for Lisa this Thursday"
- ↑ "Peterborough by-election: 'Are you SERIOUS?!' Fury at irony of Labour campaigning on CRIME"
- ↑ "Jewish groups say Labour should disown Peterborough by-election candidate"
- ↑ Document:LAZIR condemns persecution of prospective Member of Parliament by Israel lobby groups
