UK Labour suspends ex-leader Corbyn on anti-Semitism “day of shame”
LONDON, (Reuters) - Britain’s Labour opposition suspended its former leader Jeremy Corbyn yetserday after he downplayed a report that detailed serious failings in the party’s handling of persistent anti-Semitism complaints during his 2015- 2019 leadership.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) said it had found evidence of failure to adequately train people investigating alleged anti-Semitism, political interference in the processing of complaints, and harassment of individuals.
Corbyn’s successor, Keir Starmer, said he accepted the findings in full.
“It is a day of shame for the Labour Party. We have failed Jewish people... I am truly sorry for all the pain and grief that has been caused,” he said. “Never again will we fail to tackle anti-Semitism and never again will we lose your trust.”
Starmer has been trying to make a clean break from the hard- left Corbyn era as he seeks to turn around Labour’s fortunes after four successive general election defeats since 2010.
But the ruling Conservatives were quick to attack Starmer on Thursday, pointing out that as Labour’s Brexit policy chief under Corbyn, he had worked closely with him and campaigned for him to be prime minister.
“Many people will rightly worry about your failure to speak out and challenge the Labour leadership at the time,” senior minister Michael Gove wrote in an open letter to Starmer.
Corbyn, 71, reacted to the EHRC report by saying the scale of Labour’s anti-Semitism problem had
been overstated by the media and his political opponents, and his attempts to deal with the issue had been blocked by “obstructive party bureaucracy”.