Corbyn out on ‘day of shame’
LONDON: Britain’s Labour opposition suspended former leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday after he downplayed a report that detailed serious failings in the party’s handling of persistent antiSemitism complaints during his 201519 leadership.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it had found evidence of failure to adequately train people investigating alleged antiSemitism, 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 antiSemitism and never again will we lose your trust.’’
Starmer has been trying to make a clean break from the hardleft Corbyn era as he seeks to turn Labour’s electoral fortunes around.
The ruling Conservatives were quick to attack Starmer yesterday, 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) said the scale of Labour’s antiSemitism problem was overstated by the media and opponents, and his attempts to deal with the issue hit ‘‘obstructive party bureaucracy’’.
Labour suspended him over the comments, a move Corbyn denounced as a political intervention that he said he would strongly contest. — Reuters