Maxine Peake ‘clarifies’ claims Israel taught US police tactics
‘I was wrong’: Shameless actress Maxine Peake ‘clarifies’ claims Israel taught US police tactics that killed George Floyd – but doesn’t apologise and insists she’s NOT an anti-Semite
- Maxine Peake, 45, has condemned racism following backlash from interview
- Actress alleged Israeli forces taught US police tactics which killed George Floyd
- Peake, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter, also called for overthrow of ‘establishment’
- Rebecca Long Bailey was sacked from Labour frontbench for sharing article
Published: 14:17 EDT, 25 June 2020 | Updated: 21:00 EDT, 25 June 2020
Actress Maxine Peake has condemned racism after she was accused of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in an interview with The Independent.
The 45-year-old Shameless star came under fire yesterday after claiming Israeli secret forces taught US police tactics which killed George Floyd.
Peake, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter, also called for the overthrow of ‘capitalist, fascist dictators’ and ‘systemic racism’ by violent revolution.
Her comments have led to a political backlash, with Rebecca Long Bailey being sacked from the Labour frontbench after sharing the article.
Yesterday the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism group condemned Peake, saying that her ‘views have no place in decent society’.
The actress has now issued a clarification, insisting that she was ‘inaccurate in my assumption of American Police training & its sources’.
Actress Maxine Peake has condemned racism after she was accused of making anti-Semitic comments yesterday in an interview with The Independent
The 45-year-old Shameless star came under fire yesterday after claiming Israeli secret forces taught US police tactics which killed George Floyd
Rebecca Long Bailey was sacked from the Labour frontbench after sharing the article
Peake said she finds ‘racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary’.
However, her statement, released nearly 12 hours after the Independent article was published, did not contain an explicit apology.
‘I feel it’s important for me to clarify that, when talking to The Independent, I was inaccurate in my assumption of American Police training & its sources,’ she tweeted.
‘I find racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary.’
In her interview with journalist Alexandra Pollard, Peake called ‘systemic racism’ a ‘global issue’ and called for the overthrow of ‘the establishment’.
She then alleged: ‘The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.’
This statement has been denied by Israeli authorities.
Her comments were criticised as appearing to be a variation on the ‘blood libel’, where Jews are held responsible for the death of others.
Rebecca Long Bailey was sacked from the Labour frontbench by Keir Starmer yesterday after retweeting a link to the article with the caption ‘absolute diamond’.
Labour leader Keir Starmer (pictured left with Ms Long Bailey in April) has been trying to rebuild trust with the Jewish community after the Corbyn era
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: ‘Maxine Peake’s disgraceful promotion of a conspiracy theory tying Israel to the racist killing of George Floyd is unacceptable.
‘Moreover, her attempt to shame those who felt threatened by the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn, an antisemite, becoming Prime Minister, is also outrageous.
‘It is regrettable that Rebecca Long Bailey and another Labour MP retweeted the interview but it is to their credit that they later clarified or deleted their tweets, recognising… that Ms Peake’s views have no place in decent society.’
Jewish groups including the Board of Deputies of British Jews backed Keir Starmer’s sacking of former party leadership candidate Ms Long Bailey.
Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said: ‘I would like to thank Keir Starmer for backing his words with actions on anti-Semitism.
‘After Rebecca Long Bailey shared a conspiracy theory, we and others gave her the opportunity to retract and apologise. To our surprise and dismay, her response was pathetic. Her position as Shadow Education Secretary was therefore untenable.
‘There can be no space for this sort of action in any party and it is right that after so many challenging years Labour is now making this clear under its new leader.’
Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), told MailOnline: ‘Today (Thursday) we saw significant action from Sir Keir Starmer in ensuring there is zero tolerance for anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.
‘His actions show he understands the severity and harm that anti-Semitic conspiracies do to our politics.
‘We welcome this decisive leadership and firm action.’
The 45-year-old Shameless star has come under fire after claiming Israeli secret forces taught US police tactics which killed George Floyd
Sir Keir had previously vowed to wipe out the ‘stain’ of anti-Semitism from Labour and rip out the ‘poison’ that dogged the party under his predecessor.
He beat pro-Corbyn Long Bailey in the Labour party leadership race earlier this year.
‘We have to face the future with honesty,’ Sir Keir said.
‘Anti-Semitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it’s brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry.
‘I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us.’
Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who is Jewish and was a leading critic of Jeremy Corbyn, said: ‘This is what zero tolerance looks like.’ Jewish groups also lined up behind the move
Peake told The Independent: ‘We’re being ruled by capitalist, fascist dictators.
‘It’s entrenched, isn’t it? We’ve got to the point where protecting capital is much more important than anybody’s life. How do we dig out of that? How do we change?
Calls for BBC to end Maxine Peake’s contract after latest in string of controversy for Corbynista former Shameless star who called for a violent revolution
The BBC was yesterday facing calls to end Maxine Peake’s contract after the latest in a string of controversies for the Corbynista Shameless star who has flaunted with Communism and once called for a violent revolution.
Peake, 45, used an interview with the Independent to share an ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theory’ that US police learned ‘neck-kneeling’ restrain techniques used on George Floyd from Israeli spies.
The comments – which led to Rebecca Long-Bailey being sacked from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet after she shared the article – are not the first time Peake has aired radical views that have prompted mainstream criticism.
The actress was born in Bolton to a lorry driver father and care worker mother, but her parents separated when she was nine and she later moved in with her grandparents.
BBC bosses were told to sack Peake after an interview with The Independent
Peake rose to national attention while playing Twinkle in Dinnerladies, a BBC sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2000.
Since then, she is best known for playing Veronica Ball in the hit comedy Shameless, and barrister Martha Costello in legal drama Silk.
She appeared in a revival of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, a role she said that she accepted ‘straight away’ before ‘spending the next few weeks in a state of high anxiety’.
‘With what’s happening in America at the moment, it’s about financial control. It’s about keeping the poor in their place.
‘I don’t know how we escape that cycle that’s indoctrinated into us all. Well, we get rid of it when we get rid of capitalism as far as I’m concerned. That’s what it’s all about. The establishment has got to go. We’ve got to change it.’
Peake campaigned for Labour at the December election, and also turned her fire on traditional Labour voters who felt unable to back the party under Corbyn.
‘Those people who were normally Labour supporters who felt they couldn’t vote Labour? Well I’m sorry, they voted Tory as far as I’m concerned,’ she told the newspaper. ‘And it breaks my heart, because you know what? I didn’t like Tony Blair, but I still voted Labour because anything’s better than the Tories.
‘There’s a lot of people who should hang their heads in shame. People going, ‘Oh, I can join the Labour Party again because Keir Starmer’s there’, well shame on you.’
She also managed to throw in a backhanded jibe at Sir Keir himself, saying: ‘I think people will get behind Starmer, won’t they? He’s a more acceptable face of the Labour Party for a lot of people who are not really left wing. But that’s fine. Whatever. As long as the Tories get out, I don’t care anymore.’
In her interview with The Independent, Peake also praised the role of actors in the world, adding: ‘I’m not saying we are the saviours of the human race, but a lot of people have a television.’
Rebecca Long Bailey was sacked from the Labour frontbench by Keir Starmer after retweeting a link to the article with the caption ‘absolute diamond’.
After her sacking, Ms Long Bailey said she had merely ‘retweeted an interview that my constituent and stalwart Labour Party supporter Maxine Peake gave’.
‘Its main thrust was anger with the Conservative government’s handling of the current emergency and a call for Labour Party unity,’ she said.
‘These are sentiments are shared by everyone in our movement and millions of people in our country.’
‘I could not do this in good conscience without the issuing of a press statement of clarification,’ she said. ‘I had asked to discuss these matters with Keir before agreeing what further action to take, but sadly he had already made his decision.’
Sir Keir justified his action, telling the BBC: ‘The sharing of that article was wrong, because the article contained anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.’
A spokesman for Sir Keir said: ‘This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today (Thursday) contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
‘As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Anti-Semitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.’
Peake has frequently railed against the ‘crippling austerity measures’ and in 2017 backed the use of violence to install Corbyn as Prime Minister.
Asked if she wanted a peaceful or violent revolution, she replied ‘both’: ‘You can’t have a peaceful revolution now. Terrible thing to say. But we need a coup!’
In 2019, she co-signed a letter backing him in the election, lauding the former Labour leader for his stance against ‘far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism’.
