Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has been at the centre of controversy recently for attempts to undermine his party leader. His local Labour party (CLP) has reported him to the party’s National Executive Committee for his behaviour.
Mr Woodcock was also taken to task last week by former ‘Children’s Laureate’ Michael Rosen for attacking – as a non-Jew – Jeremy Corbyn’s choice of which Jewish group to celebrate a Passover Seder with:
Now Woodcock appears to be risking further contention by making use of the Easter parliamentary recess – a period used by many MPs for constituency matters – to visit Saudi Arabia.
The Labour Party cancelled Saudi representatives’ passes to its annual conference in Brighton last September over the country’s actions in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have been killed or suffered famine and a cholera epidemic because of Saudi military action.
When asked about his local members’ report to the NEC about him, Mr Woodcock said:
Nothing will distract me from standing up for our community or speaking out when I am concerned for the country’s security.
It’s not clear how his community in Cumbria is served by a trip to Saudi Arabia, but Mr Woodcock has defended the UK’s support for Saudi Arabia and argued against a 2016 Labour motion to withdraw assistance for the Saudi intervention in Yemen.
Mr Woodcock’s office was unable to provide any comment as to the reasons for the visit and the MP has not yet responded to an email requesting clarification. Unlike a previous SKWAWKBOX email, he does not yet appear to have posted this question on Twitter.
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