Rebecca Long-Bailey has been sacked as shadow education secretary for England after sharing an article that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said contained an ¡°antisemitic conspiracy theory¡±.

The , which Ms Long-Bailey , claimed that the police tactic of kneeling on someone¡¯s neck, which led to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, was ¡°learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services¡±. Israel has rejected this claim.

The article was authored by actor Maxine Peake, and Ms Long-Bailey stated on Twitter that Ms Peake was an ¡°absolute diamond¡±.

Ms Long-Bailey that she ¡°retweeted Maxine Peake¡¯s article because of her significant achievements and because the thrust of her argument is to stay in the Labour party. It wasn¡¯t intended to be an endorsement of all aspects of the article.¡±

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But the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was ¡°pathetic¡± that Ms Long-Bailey had not deleted the tweet and apologised.

A Labour spokesman said that Sir Keir had ¡°asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet¡±.

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¡°The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory,¡± the spokesman said. ¡°As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.¡±

Ms Long-Bailey stood against Sir Keir for the Labour leadership earlier this year, winning support from the left wing of the party. She had been shadow education secretary since April.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com