Corbyn ally: anti-Jewish row engulfing Labour has cut me to core
JOHN McDonnell has said he was “cut to the core” by Labour’s involvement in a bitter row on anti-Semitism as he admitted allegations of anti-Jewish sentiment dogging the party were the lowest point of the past year.
The shadow chancellor, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said Labour was committed to resolving the issue by September and admitted the levels of protest from the Jewish community were “deeply, deeply upsetting”.
His remarks came before Mr Corbyn faced growing pressure to intervene in a fresh anti-Semitism row after Peter Willsman, a member of Labour’s ruling body, claimed Jewish “Trump fanatics” were “making up” stories about abuse in its ranks.
Mr McDonnell said: “The issue for me is that it’s upsetting but partly because you think how have we got ourselves in this situation?
“We’ve got to get this sorted out but also in the life experiences of members of the Jewish community, while we have these disputes going on in the media and elsewhere, there isn’t sufficient campaigning on the ground to tackle those.”
Asked what Labour’s “low point” had been during the last year, Mr McDonnell replied: “That’s been the anti-Semitism, undoubtedly. I thought we had got to a position where we are able to move on — we’re not — we’ve got to resolve that by September.
“The discussion is taking place — I think that will enable that to happen.”
Asked about a demonstration by Jewish leaders in Parliament Square earlier this year, Mr McDonnell said it was “deeply, deeply upsetting”.
“I can’t tell you how upsetting it was,” he added. “It really cut you to the core, it really did.”
It comes as Jewish campaigners accused Mr Corbyn of being “complicit” for remaining silent when Mr Willsman made comments at a recent National Executive Committee meeting, where senior figures voted on the party’s new code of conduct on anti-Semitism.
The changes to the rulebook have sparked a major backlash from the Jewish community, with 68 rabbis writing an open letter warning it does not go far enough and calling on Labour to fully adopt an internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism in full.
The latest row centres on a recording of Mr Willsman, an ally of the Labour leader, who questioned the “evidence” of anti-Jewish sentiment in the party.
In an audio clip, Mr Willsman is heard saying: “Some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump — they are Trump fanatics and all the rest of it. So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up information without any evidence at all.
“So I think we should ask the 70 rabbis, ‘Where is your evidence of severe and widespread anti-Semitism in this party?’”
Mr Willsman has now apologised for his remarks.
His comments were branded “horrifying” by campaigners and MPs, who questioned why Mr Corbyn had not challenged him at the time.
Labour said it did not comment on individual cases.