John Mann MP/ what a man

I suspect the name of John Mann is not that familiar with many of our readers and, if it is, it would be as the man who called to his face Ken Livingstone “a fucking Nazi”. He is the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, taking over from Joe Ashton and elevated to the House of Lords by Theresa May as anti-Semitism czar. Yesterday I heard him speak at a charity luncheon and it was a deeply moving experience.

At first sight it might seem curious that a northern trade union MP should be so passionate in his fight against anti-Semitism. As he explained, it went back to the thirties when the people of Yorkshire rose up together and routed Oswald Mosley and 1000 of his Blackshirts on a local moor.

The Blackshirts never – unlike Hitler- got control of the streets and were repulsed two weeks later in the East End of London. Since his election to Parliament John Mann has been a leading light and vociferous in the fight against anti-Semitism which would only intensify his dislike of Jeremy Corbyn.

Here is the speech that Mann gave at the last CST dinner – John Mann speech