Corbyn is pitting Britain’s Muslims against Jews

The Labour leader’s charge of Islamophobia against Tories hides something darker at work

In recent days, we have seen the worst elements of Jeremy Corbyn. Behind the veneer of an affable, bearded chap I see a sinister Marxist who believes in class warfare and also in pitting Britain’s Muslims against Jews.

Under Corbyn, the Labour Party has a serious and sustained problem with Jew-hatred. Rightly, for months, there has been scrutiny of increased instances of anti-semitism, with suspensions and investigations including the departure of Corbyn’s long-term ally Ken Livingstone. Lifting from the Soviet Union’s playbook of diversionary tactics, Corbyn has now accused the Conservatives of “Islamophobia”. This is the worst form of whataboutery, but I believe there is something darker at work.

For more than a decade, Corbyn has been a vocal supporter of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and a friend to several of its leaders. To their shame, the MCB – who were first to call for an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Tory party – have used the term as a political card, mimicking homophobia. Antimuslim bigotry undoubtedly exists, but it must be more than merely a stick with which to beat the Conservatives, a political party which gave the world a Muslim chairperson, a culturally Muslim Home Secretary and prime ministers that host Iftar and Eid gatherings in Downing Street.

Perhaps, then, this is not about Islamophobia. To put it crudely, Britain’s Jews offer no more than 300,000 votes. To be seen as hostile to Jews and Israel, in order to gain some of the votes of almost four million British Muslims, is therefore worth the trade-off. There are at least 30 seats where the “Muslim vote” can help Labour win. That is a convenient political calculation, but it also based on deep conviction.

The surge of Momentum activists taking over the Labour Party has ensured that Islamists are in their midst. For almost 20 years now, there has been an alliance between Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-iraq war coalition and organisations linked to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, including the British Muslim Initiative, Muslim Association of Britain, and the Muslim Council of Britain. They have grand names, but they are essentially cut from the same ideological cloth of opposing the West, seeking to destroy Israel and to create Islamist governments across the Middle East.

For years, Corbyn has spoken of Hamas and Hizbollah as his friends and allies. That friendship, combined with the hard-left’s hatred for America and capitalism made Islamists and Leftists a coalition against the Conservatives. This grouping is now in the leadership of the Labour Party.

Most ordinary British Muslims live their lives away from this activism of anger and opposition. Sajid Javid was right to say that the MCB does not represent Britain’s Muslims, but they pretend to be Antonio Gramsci’s “organised minority controlling a disorganised majority”.

We forget at our peril that the MCB’S long-term leader Sir Iqbal Sacranie (yes, knighted) led campaigns against freedom of expression, saying that “death” would be “too easy” for Salman Rushdie. This is the same MCB that refused to attend Holocaust Memorial Day for years, and which, after the July 7 terrorist attacks, blamed British foreign policy for the deaths in London. A poll by Policy Exchange found that only two per cent of UK Muslims saw themselves as represented by the MCB.

Rather than celebrate Britain’s diversity, or cherish the individual freedoms that this great country provides to all its citizens, we have a Labour leadership that regards us as monolithic blocs of votes. True to its collectivism, it now sees Muslims, gay people, “the workers” simply as groups to mobilise. But Muslims are not a monolith. If they were, then George Galloway, who has called Corbyn his “friend”, would have won in Tower Hamlets and Bradford.

Margaret Thatcher broke the back of socialists seeing “Muslim” as a bloc by putting people like my family on the property ladder. Aspiration is what we want, not handouts and humiliation. The Conservatives must reconnect with all of Britain’s people and remove the racism of low expectations and collectivism that grips Labour under Corbyn.