Anti-Semitism worse than fighting BNP, says Hodge

LABOUR former minister Margaret Hodge said yesterday that she faces more antiSemitic abuse today than when she was fighting the BNP eight years ago.

Dame Margaret said the Labour Party used to stand for tolerance, adding: ‘That has changed.’

She fought off attempts by the British National Party’s leader at the time, Nick Griffin, to unseat her in Barking, east London. But she said the antiSemitic abuse she received now was worse than anything she was subjected to during her battle with the far-Right party.

Allegations of anti-Semitism have engulfed Labour, with leader Jeremy Corbyn accused of failing to tackle the problem. Dame Margaret told Radio 5: ‘I fought the BNP in 2010 and when Nick Griffin announced he was going to be the candidate against me I thought, “Blimey, I’m going to get buckets full of anti-Semitism”, but I didn’t. I got a bit, but not much. I’m getting more now.

‘I’ve never known it like this, and it’s terrible to have to get up and call it out. I’ve been a Labour Party member for over 50 years. I joined because I’m a refugee, an immigrant, a Jew.

‘That seemed to me the natural home for people with my background because it was always international, it was fighting racism, it was always promoting equality, it was tolerant and celebrated difference - and that has changed.’

Her comments came as a survey found that just one in five voters for all parties believed Mr Corbyn was tackling antiSemitism effectively.

The ComRes poll for the Sunday Express also found a minority of Labour voters thought he was dealing with the issue.

Meanwhile, actress Maureen Lipman suggested Labour’s anti-Semitism was pushing her towards becoming a Tory, adding: ‘I’m a socialist in my heart, but how can I support this lot?

‘If you believe all Jews are Zionists and must be hated, if you believe all Jews are capitalists and must be hated ... it is easy to jump on to the bandwagon that we are all villains.’

In an apparent swipe at Mr Corbyn, she told ITV’s Peston On Sunday: ‘It is possible to be anti-racist and anti-Semitic. We don’t know whether he’s mischievous or naughty, provocative or he is doing it cynically.’