Known for his forthright views expressed over his political career, Kaufman was an outspoken opponent of fox hunting, an advocate of Palestinian statehood and famously described his party's 1983 general election manifesto as "the longest suicide note in history".

After being educated at Leeds Grammar School,[1] Kaufman studied at the University of Oxford (Queen's College), graduating with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics.

During his time there, he was secretary of the Oxford University Labour Club, where he prevented Rupert Murdoch from standing for office because he broke the society's rule against canvassing.

[4] Becoming active again in politics, he was Parliamentary Press Liaison Officer for the Labour Party from 1965 to 1970 and eventually became a member of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's informal "kitchen cabinet".

[7][8] Kaufman was a junior minister throughout Labour's time in power from 1974 to 1979, initially as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment from 1974 to 1975 under Anthony Crosland.

[5] Kaufman supported the UK leaving the European Economic Community in the 1975 referendum, after which he was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Industry under Eric Varley.

[9] Kaufman served in the role until the Labour government was defeated at the 1979 general election and, during his time in office, he represented the UK in talks with the United States over allowing the Concorde to land on their soil and steered through legislation nationalising the aircraft and shipbuilding industries.

[1] In 1997, he criticised the then chief executive of the Royal Opera House Mary Allen over alleged financial misconduct, which ultimately contributed to her tendering her resignation.

He blamed his self-diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder for his claims, and also said that his condition led him to purchase a pair of Waterford Crystal grapefruit bowls on his parliamentary expenses.

A representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in London was also on the panel and The Daily Telegraph considered that Kaufman risked a backlash from British Jews by appearing with a supporter of Yasser Arafat.

[29] Having once publicly vowed to never again visit Israel, Kaufman retracted that promise in 2002 to film a BBC television documentary, The End of the Affair, in which he recounted his disillusionment with the state.

[34] In 2006, he called for the Israeli soldiers responsible for the deaths of British citizens Tom Hurndall and James Miller to be handed over and tried in Britain or before an international war crimes tribunal and stated that economic sanctions would have to be considered if Israel refused to cooperate.

[35] During the Gaza War in January 2009, Kaufman gave a speech to the Commons where he stated: "The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians".

[36] While considering Hamas a "deeply nasty organisation", he described their boycott by the UK government as having "dreadful consequences" and reminded the Commons that Israel had been created following acts of terrorism by the Irgun.

[44] In December 2010, Kaufman criticised a proposed amendment to Britain's universal jurisdiction law seeking to prevent visiting Israeli officials from being arrested and indicted, claiming that such changes made a mockery of the British legal system.

[45] As he stressed Israel's alleged war crimes and breaches of international law, he was berated for his statements by pro-Israel MPs and the deputy speaker had to restore order.

[46] On 30 March 2011, Kaufman was caught by a microphone in the Chamber of the House of Commons saying "here we are, the Jews again", when fellow Jewish Labour MP Louise Ellman rose to speak, for which he apologised.

[47] Ellman had stood to intervene in a debate on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill but she and Kaufman, although both Jewish, had large differences in their views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

John Mann, the Labour chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, denounced Kaufman's comments as "the incoherent ramblings of an ill-informed demagogue".