Jews feel unsafe in ‘toxic’ Labour, say 67 of party’s own peers
DOZENS of Labour peers signed a public letter accusing the party of no longer being welcoming to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn.
In a stinging attack on their party leader, the 67 members of the House of Lords said he had presided over the ‘ most shaming period in Labour’s history’.
They said he had overseen a ‘toxic culture’ of anti-Semitism.
Labour dismissed the attack as being from people who had ‘a public record of opposition to Jeremy Corbyn’s politics’.
The letter appeared as an advert in the Guardian yesterday. Theresa May held it up during Prime Minister’s Question Time, telling Mr Corbyn it was a ‘disgrace’ that he had ‘dodged his responsibility’ for tackling anti- Jewish prejudice.
She said he could not ‘parade himself as the champion of the people and the defender of equality and fairness’ until he apologised for his failure to get to grips with the problem of anti-Semitism. ‘The person who has been dodging his responsibility is the right honourable gentleman,’ she said. ‘ The real disgrace is his handling of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.’
The Labour signatories included former Cabinet ministers Peter Mandelson, John Reid, George Robertson and Peter Hain. Others included former Labour general secretaries Margaret McDonagh and Ian McNichol, Harold Wilson’s aide Bernard Donaghue, as well as TV presenter Joan Bakewell and geneticist Robert Winston.
It totalled about a third of Labour members in the Lords. They wrote: ‘The Labour Party welcomes everyone* irrespective of race, creed, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation (*except, it seems, Jews).
‘This is your legacy, Mr Corbyn. Under your leadership, Labour is no longer a safe place for all members and supporters, whatever their ethnicity or faith. Thousands have resigned and thousands feel unable to attend party meetings because of the toxic culture you have allowed to divide our movement.’ They added: ‘After initially defending the racist mural in East London you admitted being unable to recognise that it was anti-Semitic because you didn’t look closely enough. You still haven’t opened your eyes.
‘After your staff shielded antiSemitic conduct from the party’s disciplinary rules, you said: “I do not intervene in cases, my office does not intervene in cases.” You still haven’t told the whole truth.
‘We are not asking if you are an anti-Semite. We are saying you are accountable as leader for allowing anti-Semitism to grow and presiding over the most shaming period in our history. You still haven’t accepted your responsibility.’
‘It’s the style of your office and your followers to deny the truth of the message and denounce the messengers. But we cannot stay silent. You have failed to defend our party’s anti-racist values. You have therefore failed the test of leadership.’
One of the signatories, Lord Foulkes, said: ‘We now want our leader to give an apology in front of a Jewish audience for what’s been happening in the party, and to outline exactly what is going to be done.’
Lord Winston said: ‘He could stand down and offer to resign and have some honour.’
Last week, the BBC’s Panorama revealed claims from a number of former party officials that some of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies tried to interfere in disciplinary processes involving allegations of anti-Semitism.
A Labour spokesman confirmed it is party policy to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected second chamber.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell hit out at the Labour peers, saying their letter was ‘completely inaccurate’. He told the BBC: ‘I don’t understand what motivates some people – but I don’t care.’
‘You haven’t opened your eyes’