Monday, 27 February 2017

Sir Gerald Kaufman MP dies

The father of the house, Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, has died aged 86.

After a number of failed attempts Kaufman was elected as MP for Manchester Ardwick in 1970 and held the seat until it was abolished in 1983 when he won the seat of Manchester Gorton.

Kaufman was a member of the Labour Jewish movement but was a vociferous critic of the Israeli government's occupation of Palestine and its treatment of Palestinians.

Labour has a massive majority in Manchester Gorton with Kaufman increasing his vote share by 17% at the last election. This big Remain-voting seat will be way down UKIP's target list but with local and mayoral elections being held in May there is likely to be a very long by-election campaign to educate voters.

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Kaufman was the only MP to oppose the vote 'fixed' by Heath and George Thomas (speaker of the House and a Welshmen) to give the English county of Monmouthshire with its 400 sq miles of England along with 400,000 English citizens (thus robbing them of their English nationality) to Wales. The legislation was passed at midnight with only 5 MPs in the house and did not mention that the county was being transferred to Wales. Kaufman was one of those five and the only man to realise what was happening and to oppose it.I knew a man (Elwyn Jones) who did not realise for over 40 years that he had become a Welshman in 1974. He fought it for the rest of his life and gave me copies of all his documentary proof.

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