After refusing Nick Clegg’s “apologise or resign” ultimatum, Jenny Tonge has had the LibDem whip removed and Guido hears she is to leave the party. Respect’s first Peer?

Not bad for five hours work and a tip of the hat to Student Rights for pushing this to us.

Think it’s time for a pint…

Nick Clegg has finally woken up to today’s mess and apparently told Baroness Tonge that she has “a few hours” to apologise or resign. The comments that have caused Jihad Jenny trouble today were made over a week ago, but it is clear they were not a one off, nor was her willingness to share a platform with unsavoury characters. Just two days ago Tonge popped  up at the Queen Mary’s University’s Palestine Solidarity Society.

Guido hears that all known Jews and critics were evicted before the start, including the man who filmed Tonge’s outburst last week, as well as Jewish Chronicle journalists. On the stage, Azzam Tamimi, a controversial activist, declared that he was ready to become a martyr for his cause. Tamimi went on to say that he wished he was in Hamas and that the banned terror group were the only “true representative of the Palestinian people.” And Jihad Jenny just sat there. Is that official LibDem policy?

And it gets worse, the reason Tonge was silent was because she agrees with loonies like Tamimi. Last year she gave an interview to Iranian state television that stated:

“It is necessary for the international community to include Hamas in the Middle East peace process, as it is the only trusted faction [in the occupied territories] in which the Palestinian could rely upon”

The LibDems weak holding statement this afternoon said:

“The Liberal Democrats are wholehearted supporters of a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel / Palestine issue.”

Not all of them it seems…

*The above image is of Jenny Tonge sharing a platform with Hamas, via Harry’s Place

It may be a leap year but this one was out of the blue:

https://twitter.com/#!/Ed_Miliband/statuses/174883727808274434

Over to you Nick…

Tory MP Robert Halfon is on the attack. This open letter has just been sent to Nick Clegg:

Dear Deputy Prime Minister,

As you may be aware, several media outlets are displaying videos of Baroness Tonge, the Liberal Democrat peer. The video shows her making the following comments:

“Beware Israel,” she says. “Israel is not going to be there forever on its present performance. One day the United States of America will get sick of giving £70 billion a year to Israel.” The Lib Dem peer goes on to say that she thought of Israel as “America’s aircraft carrier in the Middle East” but that one day people in the United States would say “enough is enough”.

She added: “It will not go on forever, it will not go on forever and Israel will lose its support, then they will reap what they have sown.”

Baroness Tonge has an appalling record of strong anti-Israel rhetoric. Too often, her remarks carry an offensive anti-Semitic tone. You will know this from personal experience, as you were forced to ask her to resign from the Liberal Democrat frontbench in 2010 following similar comments. As the time, you said that her comments were “wrong, distasteful and provocative”.

I know that, like me, the Liberal Democrats are supportive of a peaceful two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. Baroness Tonge’s remarks are hugely damaging and disruptive to those efforts. On this basis, I would ask that you consider withdrawing the whip from her with immediate effect.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Halfon MP

The LibDems are yet to ask Baroness Tonge to retract her comments, and it beggars belief that they are deemed acceptable in a mainstream political party, let alone one of government.

James “it was the weekend and I was on my Blackberry” Murdoch has quit as the Executive Chairman of News International.

Remains at BSkyB…

UPDATE: Twitter comment of the day: “As one Sun begins, another ends.”

The Chairman of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, Gavin Stollar, is not very happy with Jenny:

“LDFI strongly condemns Baroness Tonge’s latest outburst not only because it is wrong but because it is contrary to Lib Dem Party policy. Jenny Tonge is an irrelevant, siren and marginal voice in the Liberal Democrat Party and we call on her to resign the Lib Dem whip. If she truly believes the things she says, how can she justify being a member of a Party whose policies are diametrically opposed to her views on Israel and the Middle East, a subject on which she talks on almost a daily basis.”

Guido understands a statement from HQ is imminent…

UPDATE: A LibDem spokesperson said:

“Jenny Tonge does not speak for the party on Israel / Palestine. Her presence and comments at this event were extremely ill-advised and ill judged. The tone of the debate at this event was wholly unacceptable and adds nothing to the peace process. The Liberal Democrats are wholehearted supporters of a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel / Palestine issue.”

Not sure that will be enough for everyone…

UPDATE II:

https://twitter.com/#!/GuidoFawkes/status/174861849358110720