Labour civil war 2.0: revolt after former leader Jeremy Corbyn is SUSPENDED in anti-Semitism row
Labour civil war 2.0: Union baron Len McCluskey leads hard-left revolt that could SPLIT the party after defiant Jeremy Corbyn was suspended for extraordinary statement dismissing anti-Semitism report
- A damning anti-Semitism report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission was released on Thursday
- It found party committed unlawful acts in three different areas during the dark years under Jeremy Corbyn
- Sir Keir Starmer initially told Corbyn he would not take any drastic action over the 130-page report
- But Corbyn dismissed its findings, claiming anti-Semitism was ‘overstated for political reasons’
- His extraordinary statement forced Starmer to act and he swiftly suspended his predecessor from the party
- Corbyn’s far-left allies have rallied around their former leader as a civil war erupted in Labour
Labour has exploded into brutal civil warfare over anti-Semitism after former leader Jeremy Corbyn was suspended in the wake of an official report which tore into party racism under his leadership.
Hard-left figures in the party including union baron Len McCluskey, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Diane Abbott are lining up to support Mr Corbyn against moderate Labour led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Socialist former leader Corbyn – who has previously been caught on a Mail Online exclusive video saying British Zionists ‘don’t get English irony’ – was stripped of the party whip hours after a damning report found Labour guilty of breaking equality laws.
Lord Mann, the UK’s anti-Semitism tsar, said it was ‘the moment of greatest shame in the history of the Labour Party’.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer suspended him for issuing a statement dismissing many of the EHRC’s conclusions and claiming the extent of anti-Semitism during his tenure had been ‘overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media’.
It was this comment, made moments before Starmer made a speech accepting the conclusions, which prompted Labour general secretary David Evans to suspend him.
Starmer is understood to have called Corbyn on Wednesday night, reassuring him ahead of the report’s publication that he would not take action against him.
But the Labour leader was forced to react after Corbyn’s statement at around 11am on Thursday prompted shock in Labour HQ, according to The Guardian.
A senior Labour source revealed deputy leader Angela Rayner spoke to Corbyn and his team, urging him to apologise immediately and issue a clarification in a video he recorded shortly after at lunchtime.
But the former Labour leader refused to do so and at 1pm, Labour announced his suspension.
It is believed Corbyn did not intend his statement to be a direct challenge to Starmer, even though he condemned the ‘political intervention’.
Shadow ministers have so far backed Starmer, with one describing it as his Clause IV moment.
The suspension was immediately hailed by moderates, but it plunged the party into civil war, with Unite union boss Len McCluskey saying the decision was a ‘grave injustice’ which would cause ‘chaos’ and doom Labour to electoral defeat.
That in-fighting could last for months as the former leader’s fate is decided. Mr Corbyn vowed to fight the suspension, while there are suggestions his supporters on the front bench are considering resigning and his backers in the party are tearing up their membership cards.
Last night the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism demanded that its complaints about Mr Corbyn’s conduct – such as supporting an anti-Semitic mural – be reinvestigated. It also submitted complaints against 15 other MPs, including Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon, Rebecca Long-Bailey and deputy leader Angela Rayner.
A snap YouGov poll found that 58 per cent of people believe Mr Corbyn’s suspension was the right decision, against 13 per cent who said it was wrong.
Union boss Len McCluskey last night warned Sir Keir Starmer that the move to suspend Jeremy Corbyn would spark chaos within Labour and consign it to defeat at the next election.
Mr McCluskey, leader of Unite, led calls for Sir Keir reverse the decision, calling it a ‘gross injustice’ as Mr Corbyn’s closest allies rallied around him.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell labelled Mr Corbyn’s suspension from the party ‘profoundly wrong’, while former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott retweeted a statement opposing his suspension.
But amid fury from Mr Corbyn’s supporters and allies, Mr McClusky urged members to stay in the party rather than leave in protest, and Mr McDonnell and Miss Abbott called for calm and for ‘party unity’.
That came amid speculation that Corbyn supporters on the front bench were considering resigning, and that his supporters in the party were tearing up their membership cards.
Mr McCluskey said: ‘This was a day for our party to move forward as one to defeat the evil of anti-Semitism. However, the decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn has threatened that opportunity.
Mr Corbyn’s supporters broke out into barely-suppressed revolt after the hard-left icon, 71, was stripped of the whip for comments downplaying the Equality and Human Right’s Commission’s long-awaited probe.
The landmark 130-page report found ‘significant failings in the way the Labour Party has handled anti-Semitism complaints over the last four years’ with ‘specific examples of harassment, discrimination and political interference’.
Among the charges levelled at Labour were the fact that out of 70 anti-Semitism complains analysed, 23 showed signs of ‘political interference’ by Mr Corbyn’s office and others.
They also blasted ‘a lack of leadership within the Labour Party on these issues’, which it said was ‘hard to reconcile with its stated commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism’.
But Mr Corbyn was suspended this afternoon after releasing a statement saying the ‘scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media’.
The decision prompted the Left and moderate wings of the party to turn on each other, deepening a split that was already chasm-deep after years of factional infighting.
Mr Corbyn urged his Labour supporters to ‘stay in the party’ to fight for left-wing principles following the decision to suspend him, as many displayed their cut-up membership cards on social media.
In a broadcast interview in Islington following the removal of the whip, Mr Corbyn called for calm and for members to ‘make the case’ for left-wing values internally.
But as Corbynites vented their ire at his replacement, Sir Keir Starmer, the current Labour leader insisted the decision had been correct.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘disappointed’ in Jeremy Corbyn’s statement and added: ‘I want to unite the Labour Party and bring our factions together as a united party.
‘But I made a very clear commitment to root out anti-Semitism and I’m going to follow through on that commitment. We cannot say ”zero tolerance” and then turn a blind eye.’
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell backed his former boss Mr Corbyn, describing the suspension as ‘profoundly wrong’ on Twitter.
‘On the day we should all be moving forward & taking all steps to fight anti-Semitism, the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is profoundly wrong,’ he tweeted.
‘In interests of party unity let’s find a way of undoing & resolving this. I urge all party members to stay calm as that is the best way to support Jeremy and each other. Let’s all call upon the leadership to lift this suspension.’
And Unite union kingpin Len McCluskey, a close confident of Mr Corbyn, added it was ‘an act of grave injustice which, if not reversed, will create chaos within the party and in doing so compromise Labour’s chances of a general election victory’.
In other developments:
- Mr Corbyn said he did not accept all the report’s findings, but added: ‘Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it, and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should.’
- Sir Keir said that the report was ‘hard to read’, adding: ‘It is a day of shame for the Labour Party. We have failed Jewish people.’
- Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said Jeremy Corbyn had ‘shamed’ the party by sitting ‘at the centre of a party that enabled anti-Semitism.’
- But the Jewish MP dismissed calls for his expulsion saying: ‘He is yesterday’s man. He is absolutely irrelevant.’
- Former Labour MP Luciana Berger said the findings were ‘damning’ and ‘I don’t think they could have been any worse than what we’ve heard and seen today’.
- The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said it had filed complaints to Labour about 16 MPs. They are Mr Corbyn plus Diane Abbott, Tahir Ali, Mike Amesbury, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Barry Gardiner, Kate Hollern, Afzal Khan, Rebecca-Long Bailey, Angela Rayner, Steve Reed, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Barry Sheerman and Zarah Sultana.
Jeremy Corbyn, pictured returning to his house on Thursday evening, has been suspended by Labour in the wake of an official report which tore into party racism under his leadership
Sir Keir offered a grovelling apology to British Jews today and warned that those who still felt that accusations were ‘exaggerated, or a factional attack’ should be ‘nowhere near the Labour Party’
The Socialist Campaign Group of left-wing MPs, led by former shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, condemned Mr Corbyn’s suspension, saying: ‘We will work tirelessly for his reinstatement.
‘The fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism is central to the struggle for a society based on justice and equality.’
And the pro-Corbyn Momentum pressure group said: ‘This suspension risks politicising Labour’s response to anti-Semitism.
‘It is a massive attack on the left by the new leadership and should be immediately lifted in the interests of party unity.’
The EHRC found that Labour broke equalities law over two cases, including one which involved former London mayor Ken Livingstone ‘using antisemitic tropes and suggesting that complaints of anti-Semitism were fake or smears’ in 2016, before he quit the party.
It has been given until December 10 to act on recommendations in the report or find itself in court.
Sir Keir this morning initially side to sidestep the issue of whether he would take direct action against his predecessor in the wake of the report as he addressed reporters.
This was despite saying: ‘If – after all the pain, all the grief, and all the evidence in this report – there are still those who think there’s no problem with anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, that it’s all exaggerated, or a factional attack, then, frankly, you are part of the problem too. And you should be nowhere near the Labour Party either.’
But the comments in Mr Corbyn’s statement forced the party to act, and threatening to see Labour embroiled in another civil war over anti-semitism.
This afternoon Mr Corbyn denied he was ‘part of the problem’ and told broadcasters he would not quit Labour:
‘Of course not. I am proud to be a member of the Labour Party, I joined the Labour party when I was 16, I’ve fought racism all my life, and I’ll fight racism for the rest of my life,’ he said.
He later tweeted that the suspension was a ‘political intervention’.
But Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said: ‘This is the right decision following Corbyn’s shameful reaction to the EHRC report.
‘Labour is finally saying enough is enough, anti-Semitism can never be tolerated in our party. Now we can finally move on.’
Mr Corbyn urged his Labour supporters to ‘stay in the party’ to fight for left-wing principles following the decision to suspend him.
In a broadcast interview in Islington following the removal of the whip, Mr Corbyn called for calm and for members to ‘make the case’ for left-wing values internally.
‘Quite clearly the decision was made in a very quick way and I would just say, hang on a minute, let’s all keep a bit calm, let’s think again about this whole issue,’ he said.
‘Our party comes together to fight racism and injustice but we also come together to bring about economic justice for the people of this country,’
‘That is what unites our movement and our party and that is what I appeal to members to focus on.
‘Don’t go away, don’t leave the party. Stay in the party and argue the case for economic and social justice in our society.’
During the interview, the Islington North MP refused to retract his earlier statements, saying the ‘public perception’ about how many members were under investigation for anti-Semitism was ‘very different’ to the reality.
But he added: ‘I’ve explained what I said, I’ve explained what I meant by it. I’m not diminishing or minimising the issue of anti-Semitism.
‘It is serious, it is real, it does exist.
‘I’ve explained what the statement was designed to say, simply the size of the issue.
‘But one anti-Semite is one too many and I’ve made that clear to everyone in the party.’
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell described the suspension of Mr Corbyn as ‘profoundly wrong’ on Twitter.
‘On the day we should all be moving forward & taking all steps to fight anti-Semitism, the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is profoundly wrong,’ he tweeted.
‘In interests of party unity let’s find a way of undoing & resolving this.
‘I urge all party members to stay calm as that is the best way to support Jeremy and each other. Let’s all call upon the leadership to lift this suspension.’
Speaking to reporters today, Alasdair Henderson, from the EHRC, said ‘The failure of leadership was during the time when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.
‘As leader of the party, with evidence of political interference within his office, he has a responsibility for those failings.’
The EHRC launched an investigation last year into claims that the party under Jeremy Corbyn had victimised Jews and turned a blind eye to hard-Left racism.
It was only the second time such a probe had been opened into a political party – the first was into the BNP.
The party is responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act (2010) relating to: political interference in complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism cases and harassment.
The party has been served with an unlawful act notice and has been given until December 10 to draft an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations, which is legally enforceable by the courts if not fulfilled.
The EHRC found evidence of political interference in the complaints process, with 23 instances of inappropriate involvement by the Leader of the Opposition’s Office (LOTO) and others in the 70 files the watchdog looked at.
They included LOTO staff influencing decisions, including on suspensions or whether to investigate claims.
The EHRC found the situation to be indirectly discriminatory and unlawful as it put the person making the complaint at a disadvantage.
The watchdog found that the lack of training for people handling anti-Semitism complaints indirectly discriminated against Jewish members until August 2020, by which time Sir Keir Starmer was leader of the party.
Labour has committed to proper training, with the EHRC recommending it should be mandatory and fully implemented within six months.
Lord Mann, a former Labour MP and independent adviser to the Government on anti-Semitism, tweeted: ‘The moment of greatest shame in the history of the Labour Party.
‘And to think how many said it was all made up and exaggerated. Which amongst them will stand up and say that I am truly sorry?’
The Jewish Labour Movement said the report showed that ‘the blame for this sordid, disgraceful chapter in the Labour Party’s history lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership – those who possessed both power and influence to prevent the growth of anti-Jewish racism, but failed to act.’
In a statement it said: ‘What the report shows is that, worse than simply failing to act, the leadership of the Labour Party actively interfered in the processes relating to anti-Semitism, for political reasons.
‘This failure of leadership amounted to unlawful conduct that facilitated antisemitism to become normalised within the Labour Party, a situation that continues to this day, that must be stopped, and must never happen again.
The EHRC report said it ‘uncovered serious failings’ in the way complaints were handled, until at least 2018, during which Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader.
The report stated: ‘We found that the Labour Party’s response to anti-Semitism complaints has been inconsistent, poor and not transparent, in terms of the process used, reasons for decisions, record-keeping, delay and failures to communicate with complainants.
‘Some complaints were unjustifiably not investigated at all.’
The report also found ‘evidence of political interference in the handling of anti-Semitism complaints throughout the period of the investigation’.
The report added: ‘We have concluded that this practice of political interference was unlawful. The evidence shows that staff from the Leader of the Opposition’s Office (LOTO) were able to influence decisions on complaints, especially decisions on whether to suspend someone.
‘Sometimes these decisions were made because of likely press interest rather than any clear formal criteria.’
Caroline Waters, Interim chairwoman of the EHRC, said: ‘The Labour Party made a commitment to zero tolerance for anti-Semitism. Our investigation has highlighted multiple areas where its approach and leadership to tackling antisemitism was insufficient.
‘This is inexcusable and appeared to be a result of a lack of willingness to tackle anti-Semitism rather than an inability to do so.
‘It is encouraging to see the Party’s new leadership has committed to implementing our recommendations in full. If the Party truly wants to rebuild trust with its members and the Jewish community, it must acknowledge the impact that numerous investigations and years of failure to tackle anti-Semitism has had on Jewish people, and take swift, sincere action to improve.
‘Politicians on all sides have a responsibility to set standards for our public life and to lead the way in challenging racism in all its forms. There have been recent examples of behaviour from politicians of various parties that fall well below the standards we would expect.
‘While freedom of expression is essential to proper political debate, politicians must recognise the power of their language to sow division. Our recommendations provide a foundation for leaders to make sure that they adhere to equality law and demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion through their words and actions.’
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: ‘The debate is over. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party became institutionally anti-Semitic. It drove almost half of British Jews to consider leaving the country.
‘For five miserable years, every effort to compel Labour to reform failed. We were left with no choice but to refer the Party to the EHRC, which launched an investigation with us as complainant.
‘The EHRC’s findings and recommendations today – that Labour’s leadership and culture created an unlawful environment that discriminated against Jews – closely align with the hundreds of pages of evidence and argument that we submitted to the EHRC over many months.
‘Frankly, this report would not be much different had we written it. It is the dispensing of British justice that British Jews have sorely awaited, but has been denied for too long.
In a joint statement today the leaders of Britain’s Jewish community blasted Mr Corbyn.
Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jewish Leadership Council chairman Jonathan Goldstein and Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust, said: ‘This report is a damning verdict on what Labour did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies. It proves why British Jews were so distressed and it disgraces those who attacked us for speaking out against anti-Jewish racism.
‘Our Jewish community never wanted this fight, but we had to defend ourselves and are proud to have done so. We thank all those who stood with us, despite the abuse they received as a result.
‘Jeremy Corbyn will rightly be blamed for what he has done to Jews and Labour, but the truth is more disturbing, as he was little more than a figurehead for old and new anti-Jewish attitudes.
‘All of this was enabled by those who deliberately turned a blind eye.’
According to the Jewish Labour Movement’s submission to the inquiry, Jewish members faced vile abuse and Mr Corbyn’s office interfered in anti-Semitism cases.
It listed nine cases in which the former leader had personally ‘engaged in’ anti-Semitism, and concluded that the party was ‘no longer a safe space for Jewish people or for those who stand up against anti-Semitism’.
The saga began in 2017 when the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism approached the EHRC after the Daily Mail revealed that the Labour conference fringe had played host to a speaker who said the Holocaust should be open to debate.
Labour received a copy of the report in July, but it has remained under wraps over the summer so that those named in its pages have a right to reply.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers’ Union, said the decision to suspend Mr Corbyn was ‘fundamentally wrong and needs to change’.
Meanwhile, money has been flowing in to a crowdfund aimed at paying Mr Corbyn’s legal costs should he face defamation action over earlier comments made about the anti-Semitism row.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘I’m devastated that it’s come to this. Today should be about really listening, and reading the report and taking in the report.
Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said: ‘This is the right decision following Corbyn’s shameful reaction to the EHRC report. ‘Labour is finally saying enough is enough, anti-Semitism can never be tolerated in our party. Now we can finally move on.’
Andrew Cassidy, a Labour Party member of 10 years resigned his membership in protest at the suspension of former leader Jeremy Corbyn
‘It’s a day of shame for the Labour Party and the findings were stark.
‘Jeremy is a fully decent man, but as Margaret Hodge said, he has an absolute blind spot, and a denial, when it comes to some of these issues and that’s devastating.’
She rejected Mr Corbyn’s assertion that anti-Semitism had been exaggerated and said the findings of the EHRC bring ‘shame on us’.
‘And there’s no mitigation of that, and we have to acknowledge that and do something about it,’ Ms Rayner added.
Karie Murphy, who has herself been accused of meddling in anti-Semitism cases, claimed: ‘Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, anti-Semites were removed from the Labour Party more quickly, transparently and effectively than ever before.
‘As his former chief of staff, I’m proud of that record.’
Ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone guilty of ‘unlawful harassment’ of Jewish Labour members, report finds
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone launched a tirade against ‘parts of the media and by political opponents’ today after a major report into Labour anti-Semitism found that he committed ‘unlawful harassment’ of Jews.
The hard Left politician, 75, who ran the capital from 2000 to 2008, was castigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over comments in made in 2016 in support of Bradford MP Naz Shah.
Mr Livingstone is involved in one of two cases where the EHRC ruled that Labour broke equalities law.
The watchdog accused him of ‘unwanted conduct related to Jewish ethnicity’ in his defence of Ms Shah, who was caught out over a Facebook post made before she became an MP.
In a statement posted on his website today, Mr Livingstone said: ‘I am proud of my record as an anti-racist and a leading campaigner against the far-right and their hate, from when I joined the Labour Party in 1969, through my life since, including serving as a local councillor, Greater London Council member, MP, Mayor of London and Labour National Executive Committee member.
‘I have always implacably opposed anti-Semitism. As a life-long anti-racist, I am deeply hurt by – and fully reject – the accusations again being circulated across parts of the media and by political opponents that I am anything but 100 per cent committed to fighting all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism.’
The EHRC served Labour with an unlawful act notice under the Equality Act over two cases – one of which involved comments made by former London major Ken Livingstone
Under the Equality Act 2010, the Labour Party is legally responsible for unlawful conduct carried out by its agents in the course of their authorised functions or duties
Mr Livingstone is a longstanding ally and supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, and had a strained relationship with the Labour leadership under Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
In 2016 the former mayor waded into the row over anti-Semitic Facebook posts by Ms Shah in 2014, before she was Bradford West MP.
She shared a graphic which was headlined ‘Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict – Relocate Israel into United States’ and she added: ‘problem solved.’
In a series of apologies, Ms Shah admitted the posts were not ‘excusable’ and vowed to help build relations between faith communities in penance for her statements. She remains a Labour MP.
But as the row broke out, Mr Livingstone went public to back her, even though she had apologised.
The EHRC report noted: ‘He sought to minimise their offensive nature by stating that they were merely criticism of Israeli policy at a time of conflict with the Palestinians.
‘He also alleged that scrutiny of Naz Shah’s conduct was part of an apparent smear campaign by ”the Israel lobby” to stigmatise critics of Israel as anti-Semitic, as well as being aimed at undermining and disrupting the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn MP. These comments were made on radio shows with large audiences.’
It added: ‘Ken Livingstone’s comments, set out above, were unwanted conduct related to Jewish ethnicity.
‘The evidence referred to above shows that these statements had the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for members, and prospective members, of the Labour Party, particularly those who were Jewish.’
Mr Livingstone was suspended by the party in 2017 over further alleged anti-Semitic comments and resigned the following year amid calls for his expulsion.
Labour tainted by anti-Semitism accusations during Jeremy Corbyn’s five years as leader
The anti-Semitism scandal has dogged Labour since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.
Here is a timeline of the controversies:
April 2016:
Labour MP Naz Shah is suspended for anti-Semitic posts – including one in which she appeared to endorse calls for Israelis to be deported to the US.
She apologises and is given a formal warning.
Ken Livingstone goes on the radio to defend Ms Shah – but sparks fresh controversy by claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.
Naz Shah
He is suspended by Labour but refuses to apologise and has repeated the claim many times.
He eventually quits Labour two years later, saying his suspension has become a distraction.
June 2016:
A two-month inquiry by civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti finds that Labour is not overrun by anti-Semitism.
But the launch is overshadowed when Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth flees it in tears after being accused by Corbyn supporter Marc Wadsworth of colluding with the press.
Critics accuse the report of being a whitewash and Ms Chakrabarti is widely criticised for accepting a peerage from Jeremy Corbyn shortly afterwards.
October 2016:
The Home Affairs Select Committee says Labour is guilty of incompetence over its handling of anti-Semitism and of creating a safe space for people with ‘vile attitudes towards Jewish people’.
March 2018:
It is revealed that Jeremy Corbyn defended an artist who painted an anti-Semitic mural and said the offensive art should be removed.
He apologises saying he did not properly look at the picture before he made the post.
Jewish leaders take the unprecedented step of holding a demonstration outside Parliament protesting Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism.
Several Labour MPs address the crowds.
April 2018:
Marc Wadsworth was expelled from Labour after being accused of anti-Semitism in 2018
Marc Wadsworth is expelled from Labour after being accused of anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Labour Jewish MPs tell of the anti-Semitic abuse they have suffered in a powerful parliamentary debate – and round on their leader for failing to tackle it.
July 2018:
The Labour leadership sparks fresh anger by failing to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism
Peter Willsman, a strong ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is secretly taped ranting that Jewish ‘Trump fanatics’ invented the anti-Semitism storm engulfing Labour.
In an angry diatribe at a meeting of Labour’s ruling executive committee, Peter Willsman said he was ‘amazed’ there was evidence party members hated Jews.
In an angry diatribe at a meeting of Labour’s ruling executive committee, he said he was ‘amazed’ there was evidence party members hated Jews.
He claimed ‘some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump – they are Trump fanatics’ before shouting: ‘So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all.’
August 2018:
Jeremy Corbyn issues a video insisting he is committed to tackling the racism – but it is panned by Jewish leaders.
Corbynistas mount a social media campaign to get deputy Labour leader Tom Watson to quit after he criticises the party’s handling of anti-Semitism.
The Daily Mail exclusively publishes photos of Jeremy Corbyn holding a wreath at a ceremony where a terrorist linked to the Munich massacre was honoured.
The Labour leader insists he was there to honour others killed – but faces fresh calls to quit over the scandal.
February 2019:
Nine MPs including Luciana Berger, Joan Ryan and Ian Austin are among those who quit the Labour Party with broadsides at inaction over anti-Semitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Berger, the Jewish Liverpool Wavertree MP, had faced a barrage of attacks from members of her own local party as well as wider abuse, said Labour had become ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’.
Berger, the Jewish Liverpool Wavertree MP, faced a barrage of attacks from members of her own local party as well as wider abuse, said Labour had become ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’
Enfield MP Joan Ryan was attacked because she was the chairwoman of Labour friends of Israel. And Dudley’s Ian Austen, who adoptive father was Jewish, said he had become ‘ashamed’ of what the party had become under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
November 2019:
MP Chris Williamson, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, quits the party after being blocked from restanding in his Derby North seat at the general election. He had been suspended after saying that Labour had been ‘too apologetic’ about anti-Semitism.
Mr Corbyn later faced an anti-Semitism row of his own after a major intervention by the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. He accused the left-winger of allowing the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour. His comments were later backed up by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mr Corbyn declined repeatedly to apologise to British Jews in a searing interview by the BBC’s Andrew Neil and said that Mr Mirvis was ‘wrong’.
December 2019:
Labour is humiliated in a general election it voted to trigger. Mr Corbyn leads the party to its worst defeat since the 1930s, handing Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority. Among the losses are a broad swathe of Red Wall seats – Labour heartlands that have voted for the party for decades.
Mr Corbyn announces he will step down as party leader, triggering a leadership election. He backs Corbynite shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey to succeed him.
April 2020
Moderate former shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer beats Ms Long-Bailey to the leadership, but he retains her as shadow education secretary in his shadow cabinet.
That month an internal party report finds that anti-Semitism was so rife within Labour that some members’ views were like those of neo-Nazis.
Investigators said prejudice against Jews became common within the party and revealed Mr Corbyn did little to help discipline offenders until two years ago.
The report highlighted ‘a litany of mistakes and missed opportunities’ amid strained relations between Mr Corbyn’s office and Labour HQ, but a better approach to anti-Semitism complaints had since been established.
Nearly 900 members have been investigated or suspended for anti-Jewish hate in the past three years with 63 expelled.
June 2020
Sir Keir sacks Ms Long-Bailey after she praised an interview in which actress Maxine Peake peddled an ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theory’.
The shadow education secretary posted a link to an interview in which Peake – one of her constituents – claimed that US police learned ‘neck-kneeling’ restrain techniques used on murdered black man George Floyd from Israeli spies. The remark was described as ‘textbook casual anti-Semitism’ by Labour MPs.
Ms Long-Bailey sparked fury by describing the ex-Communist star of TV programmes including Shameless as an ‘absolute diamond’. She later tried to excuse the message by claiming she had not been endorsing all the content of the article.
July 2020
Labour makes an unreserved apology to seven whistleblowers smeared by the party after they raised concerns over anti-Semitism.
Sir Keir Starmer agrees to pay ‘substantial damages’ to former employees who contributed to a BBC probe into whether the party had victimised Jews.
In a humiliating statement in the High Court, the party accepted it had made ‘false and defamatory’ comments about the whistleblowers and had caused them ‘distress, embarrassment and hurt’.
The party also paid damages to John Ware, the veteran journalist behind the Panorama programme. It is believed the affair cost Labour up to £500,000 in legal costs and damages.
But hard-Left former leader Mr Corbyn said it was ‘disappointing’ that the party had settled the claim, adding that it was a ‘political decision, not a legal one’ – prompting the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism to call for him to be suspended from the Labour Party.
