Labour grandees round on ‘anti-Semite’ Corbyn
JEREMY CORBYN was accused of being an anti-Semite by one of Labour’s most senior politicians last night as a number of party grandees rounded on the hard-Left leadership candidate.
Ivan Lewis, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, attacked Mr Corbyn’s “anti-Semitic rhetoric” and said the party must have “zero tolerance” for such views.
Mr Lewis said he was “saddened” that people on the Left of the party had failed to take a “no ifs, no buts” approach to antiSemitism.
Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper, also leadership contenders, called on their supporters to pick anyone but Mr Corbyn as second and third preferences in the contest.
Lord Hattersley, the former Labour deputy leader, told The Daily
Telegraph that Mr Corbyn would have no right to “impose” his views on the party as he called on MPs to rebel against his policies should he win.
Meanwhile, Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, announced that he would be making his first intervention in the race tomorrow in a speech expected to be heavily critical of Mr Corbyn.
Writing on the Left-leaning website Labour List, Mr Lewis said: “Some of his stated political views are a cause for serious concern. At the very least he has shown very poor judgment in expressing support for and failing to speak out against people who have engaged not in legitimate criticism of Israeli governments but in anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
He added: “It saddens me to have to say to some on the Left of British politics that anti-racism means zero tolerance of antiSemitism, no ifs, and no buts.
“I have said the same about Islamaphobia and other forms of
racism to a minority of my constituents who make unacceptable statements.”
It comes after The Jewish Chronicle raised concerns about Mr Corbyn’s pro-Palestinian views as they demanded he urgently answer questions about his links to controversial Middle Eastern figures.
Mr Corbyn was recently challenged about why he had previously described the Islamist militant organisations Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends” at an event. He claimed the comments had been taken out of context but failed to distance himself from them.
There are concerns among Labour MPs that Mr Corbyn would take a more anti-Israel stance if he wins the contest.
Mr Corbyn has faced a growing backlash this week since a YouGov poll put him on 53 per cent – more than double the support of any other candidate.
Whispered briefings from his rival campaigns saw Andy Burnham urged to be stronger in his attacks on Mr Corbyn in an attempt to ensure no moderate voter names him as a second or third preference. There is growing belief that the only way Mr Corbyn can be stopped is if he wins less than 45 per cent of first preferences – leaving another candidate to win once second and third preferences are distributed through the alternative vote system. Lord Hattersley told The Daily Tele
graph he would be urging MPs to fight Mr Corbyn’s proposals to take Britain out of Nato, nationalise the railway and energy companies and scrap the country’s nuclear weapons.
“MPs have to follow their consciences and if the consciences are different to Corbyn’s, that is what they have to follow,” Lord Hattersley said. Meanwhile, in an interview with The
Telegraph, Mr Burnham warned that the party was in danger of splitting even if Mr Corbyn did not become leader. Mr Burnham said private polling suggesting many voters’ second and third preferences will go to him proves he is the only moderate candidate that can defeat Mr Corbyn.