You know a politician is desperate when they resort to seeking to hide behind their religious faith or ethnicity in the face of criticism. You know what we mean – “You’re only picking on me because I’m Black/Jewish/insert identity of your choice”. Margaret Hodge is a case in point. She comes from an extremely wealthy family and represents a poor, working-class area without actually living there. Yet it seems that it is anti-semitic to point this out! Yes, you heard right – anti-semitic.
She told the Jewish Chronicle:-
“They have painted me as a rich Jewish immigrant and they have repeatedly asked people if they know what my maiden name is.”
The JC goes on to point out:-
“Mrs Hodge, Barking MP since 1994, was born in Egypt, the daughter of refugee steel trader Hans Oppenheimer.”
Let’s straighten a few things out here. We have never made an issue of Hodge’s faith background and (aside from the lunatic Nazi fringe) have never seen it drawn attention to by anyone. There are legitimate questions which can and should be raised about Hodge, her wealth and her ability to relate to the people in the Constituency in which she lives. We intend to intensify our efforts to get voters thinking about that. No amount of crying Wolf over alleged anti-semitism will deter us from that task.
