Brown: Corbyn has to change
Blunt warning as head of Labour is engulfed in fresh storm over anti-Semitism
Gordon Brown delivered a blunt warning to Jeremy Corbyn yesterday as the Labour leader found himself engulfed by fresh criticism over the anti-Semitism crisis.
In a significant intervention, the former prime minister told Mr Corbyn he had ‘to change’ and said the issue was a ‘running sore’ that had to be dealt with immediately.
He demanded Labour endorse the internationally-accepted definition of antiSemitism in its entirety – something Mr Corbyn has so far refused to do, leading to a row within the party.
And in the wake of the Munich graves furore, he refused the opportunity to endorse Mr Corbyn as a ‘fit and proper person’ to be the country’s leader.
Last night, it was claimed that Labour was preparing a partial climbdown and would amend its anti-Semitism code of conduct to align with the International Holocaust remembrance Alliance (IHrA) definition of anti-Semitism.
But in a twist that is likely to generate further anger, this would be contingent on the party finding a way to include ‘protections’ that allow for criticism of Israel’s creation. Labour reportedly hopes to settle the issue before its party conference at the end of September. Some MPs have condemned its failure to adopt the full IHrA definition of anti-Semitism.
The Labour Party has been mired in controversy after the daily Mail published pictures of Mr Corbyn at a Tunisian ceme- tery in 2014 where members of Black September – the terror group that carried out the 1972 Munich olympics attack on Israeli athletes – are buried.
As the storm around Mr Corbyn showed no sign of abating:
÷Fertility expert Lord Winston, a Jewish Labour peer, said Mr Corbyn was not competent to lead his party and that it was at risk of becoming unelectable;
÷Ankie Spitzer, the widow of one of the victims of the Munich olympics terror attack, fencing coach Andrei, accused the Labour leader of hypocrisy and demanded he apologise;
÷Edward Hudson, 72, who competed for Britain at the Munich Games said Mr Corbyn ‘condones’ the massacre and is unfit to be prime minister.
Mr Brown appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where he was asked whether Mr Corbyn was ‘fit and proper’ to be prime minister.
He did not answer directly, saying: ‘ Jeremy Corbyn has got to change. He cannot sustain particularly what he is saying about the international agreement on what we do in our attitudes to both the Holocaust and Israel.
‘I predict that’s going to change within a few weeks. I believe that it will change but even that will not be enough. You have got to show by your actions not simply by saying some words that you understand the deep hurt that has been caused.
‘We have a problem in Britain... not just with Islamophobia and not just with racism against the black community. We have a problem within the Labour Party with anti-Semitism, and it has got to be dealt with.
‘Within a few days we have to approve the international recommendations about how we deal with questions about the Holocaust. It’s absolutely central to the progress of a democratic society that is tolerant and liberal that a party like the Labour Party comes out strongly against any anti-Semitism in the far-right.’
Yesterday, Mr Corbyn’s office said that at the Tunisian cemetery he ‘did not lay any wreath at the graves’ of anyone accused of being behind the 1972 Munich massacre. Mr Corbyn has also reiterated his condemnation of the ‘appalling’ attack in Germany, in which 11 Israeli athletes and a police officer were killed.
on a visit to Corby, northamptonshire, he said: ‘What happened in Munich was a disgrace and appalling and all of us condemned it at that time. I laid a wreath on behalf of many of us who were concerned at the number of people – civilians, children – who were killed when Israel attacked the PLo centre and houses around it in 1985.
Tory MPs robert Halfon and Zac Goldsmith have called for an investigation into party colleague Lord Sheikh after it was revealed he attended the same controversial event in Tunisia as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Lord Sheikh said last night: ‘I am against any terrorism.’
‘Deep hurt that has been caused’
ONE great lie underpins all Jeremy Corbyn’s dealings with terrorist groups and their cheerleaders, from the IRA and Sinn Fein to his viscerally anti-Semitic ‘friends’ in Hamas and Hezbollah.
Forget his evasions and obfuscations over his attendance at a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 to honour the masterminds of the Munich Olympics massacre of 1972, in which nine Israeli athletes and two other hostages were tortured and killed.
In this paper’s opinion, the photographic evidence proves he took part in paying homage to the Black September terrorists responsible for that infamous atrocity. But we leave it to readers to decide if he is telling the truth when he admits he was present at the wreath-laying, but adds: ‘I don’t think I was actually involved in it.’
No, the great lie he peddles when he seeks to excuse his links with mass murderers is that he’s interested only in peace. As he put it this week: ‘You can only pursue peace by a cycle of dialogue.’
Is he asking us to believe that his purpose in sharing platforms with terrorist apologists is to persuade them through dialogue to lay down their arms and pursue their goals by democratic means?
If so, why doesn’t he say this loudly and clearly to his audiences – instead of ranting constantly against Israel, America or Britain’s role in Northern Ireland?
The ineluctable truth, surely, is that Mr Corbyn is on the terrorists’ side. Indeed, his appearances on their platforms or at the gravesides of their dead can only give comfort to the men of violence – while sending out a hugely dangerous signal that he believes bombs and bullets are legitimate means of securing political ends.
As Gordon Brown observed yesterday, Mr Corbyn has got to change if he wishes to prove himself fit for public office. To which the Mail can only add: some hope!