British politician slams ex-London mayor for ‘rich Jews’ quote

JTA — Douglas Alexander, a former British government minister, has criticized former London mayor Ken Livingstone for allegedly saying Jews won’t vote for Britain’s Labor Party because they are rich.

“It’s not our politics to try and divide voters into blocs,” Alexander told London’s Evening Standard with regard to Livingstone. Both men belong to Labor, which held its national conference in Manchester on Sept. 29.

“When I saw his remarks about the Jewish community in London in particular, I didn’t just think it was ill-advised, I thought it was wrong,” Alexander was quoted as saying in the article, which was published Sept. 28.

In March, prominent Labor-supporting Jewish Londoners complained to party leader Ed Miliband about Livingstone.

Livingstone, they wrote, had “stated that he did not expect the Jewish community to vote Labour as votes for the left are inversely proportional to wealth levels, and suggested that as the Jewish community is rich we simply wouldn’t vote for him.”

Livingstone has since said the letter was a “tissue of lies” and that his comments had been misunderstood.