Did a Momentum activist suggest Chuka Umunna wasn’t ‘politically black’?

It’s been a bad week for the Tories, but it hasn’t exactly been a great week for Labour. After a list categorising Labour MPs as ‘supportive’ or ‘hostile’ towards Jeremy Corbyn was leaked, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse, because it appears that Corbynistas are now ranking MPs in terms of how ‘politically black’ they are.

The Evening Standard reports that during a speech given by Marlene Ellis – a Momentum activist and member of Chuka Umunna’s local party – she claims that her local Labour party branch in Lambeth is ‘very, very right-wing’. In a recording passed to the Standard, she is reported to claim that she is ‘tired of black MPs’ and wants ‘policy from a black perspective’, before suggesting that ‘there’ll be some black MPs that don’t align themselves with being politically black’. Given that Ellis is a key figure in Labour’s branch in Lambeth – where Umunna is MP for Streatham – her remarks have been seen by some as a reference to him, although Ellis has denied this.