He admits: Anti-semitism crisis has us swamped
RICHARD Leonard yesterday claimed the Labour Party has been so swamped by anti-semitism complaints they don’t have the capacity to investigate them properly.
The Scottish Labour leader said the party takes bigotry against Jews “very seriously”, but there has been a “bit of a resource issue” because of the sheer number of allegations.
The stark admission came as party bosses moved to defuse a damaging row over antisemitism on the first day of the Dundee conference.
They caved in to grassroots activist pressure and agreed to issue a statement outlining what the party would do to tackle anti-semitism.
Labour has been engulfed in scandal over allegations of prejudice by members and elected representatives.
Leonard insisted the party would not tolerate the problem, telling BBC Radio Scotland: “We want to root out anti-Semitism from every corner of the BY DAVID CLEGG Political Editor Labour Party and every corner of society. It is something that we are not prepared to tolerate.
“While some people have been expelled from the party because of their views, I understand why people are frustrated that we’re not getting on with it as quickly as they would like.
“There’s been a bit of a resource issue because of the number of complaints that have come in.
“As a party we’re trying to deal with them in a way that’s judicious and fair, because only if they are dealt with in that way can both people who put in complaints and people who are complained against get a proper trial of their views.
“We’re keen to make sure that how we deal with any complaints is fair.
“I am frustrated, and I know that other people are frustrated, about the length of time it is taking, but we are seeking to address that.” GOOD DAY Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader made it through the day without a blooper on independence and even managed to sound convincing on tackling antisemitism. BAD DAY Richard Leonard. A local paper asked more than a dozen people in Dundee if they knew who the Scottish Labour leader was. Nobody did. TWEET OF THE DAY Hi there @ scottishlabour. Just wondering why in the whole wide world of f**k the stewards at #scotlab19 have apparently distributed copies of the communist, Assadsupporting, Putinendorsing, Brexiteer newspaper The Morning Star to every delegate’s seat? Labour moderate Duncan Hothersall takes the Daily Record. WICKED WHISPER Who got a telling off for allowing former SNP man Kenny MacAskill’s biography of the Red Clydesiders to take pride of place in the conference bookshop? QUOTE OF THE DAY