Party takes a break from hate debate
GENERAL SECRETARY Jennie Formby’s decision to cancel a meeting of Labour’s antisemitism working group has sparked renewed claims that the party is failing to give proper attention to the crisis that has engulfed it.
The meeting, planned for Thursday, was expected to discuss recent controversies such as the dispute over the new antisemitism guidelines.
But, in a move that sparked anger among Jewish MPs, Ms Formby told the ruling national executive committee’s equalities sub-committee that too many members were on holiday.
Ms Formby has said she wants to make tackling the crisis her top priority — and had already taken a two-week holiday herself last month.
Momentum
Jennie Formby founder Jon Lansman and the group’s organiser Rhea Wolfson were among those invited to the NEC meeting alongside Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Labour’s shadow attorney general. Richard Angell, director of the centreleft Progress group told the JC: “With the antisemitism crisis engulfing the party, why won’t the Momentum-dominated working group come together to review the party’s policy on the IHRA definition, discuss how suitable it is for Peter Willsman to continue on the NEC and commission the Jewish Labour Movement to run this “political education training” that has been promised for months? It is just more delays from Labour’s new establishment.”
A Labour spokesman said the meeting had not been cancelled — “the date had changed” There was further anger on Tuesday after footage emerged of Jeremy Corbyn suggesting the BBC has a “bias” in favour of saying “Israel has a right to exist”. Appearing on the Iranian state-funded Press TV’s INFocus programme in 2011, Mr Corbyn said there was “pressure on the BBC” from its Director General Mark Thompson who “seems to me to have an agenda in this respect”.
During Mr Thompson’s 2004 to 2012 tenure, a recurring theme among hate forums online was that he was part of a “Jewish mafia”. Mr Thompson’s wife is Jewish.
Mr Corbyn said: “They [Israelis] are very assertive towards all journalists and the BBC itself. They challenge every single thing on reporting the whole time. I think there is a bias towards saying that Israel is a democracy in the Middle East, Israel has a right to exist, Israel has its security concerns.”
The footage — the latest to emerge of Mr Corbyn in his backbench days — was uncovered by The Golem, a political blogger who writes on antisemitism.
On Monday evening, Labour dramatically dropped an investigation into the conduct of Dame Margaret Hodge who accused Jeremy Corbyn of being an “antisemite” and a “racist” in a heated exchange.
The threat of action became the epicentre of the row within the party over its failure to adopt the internationally recognised definition of antisemitism, which caused a huge standoff with its Jewish supporters and MPs.
A Labour source said Ms Formby had written to Dame Margaret confirming that no further action will be taken.
The source said the veteran Labour MP had herself written to Chief Whip Nick Brown “expressing regret” for the manner in which she raised her views.
But in a tweet, Dame Margaret stressed: “Just to be clear: there have been no apologies — on either side.” She added: “After 55 years of [Labour Party] membership, going after me instead of addressing the issue was wrong.”
Her lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, told Labour: “Even in defeat, you have sought to spin your final decision.”
And lawyers for Ian Austin, the backbench MP facing disciplinary for protesting to the Party’s chair about Mr Corbyn’s failure to address the “scourge of antisemitism” have labelled General Secretary Jennie Formby’s investigation into him a “farce and a disgrace”.
A letter, sent by Hamlins on behalf of the Dudley North MP said that the investigation had “plainly been designed to silence our client for his legitimate, honestly-held criticisms”.
Labour’s Chris Leslie has asked Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom to allocate time for a debate so MPs can show support to the Jewish community. He called for Parliament to adopt the IHRA definition to “send the clearest of signals that antisemitism of any kind will not be tolerated”.
He wrote: “Like the vast majority of MPs from across the political parties I believe that the IHRA have provided the correct framework for identifying antisemitism in their working definition and accompanying examples.” The UK delegation of the IHRA also issued a damning rebuke to Labour, warning that rejecting its definition would help lead to “a world where antisemitism goes unaddressed”.
A statement signed by seven members — including Sir Ben Helfgott and the Holocaust Education Trust chief executive’s Karen Pollock — said the definition was “drafted with input from some of the world’s foremost experts on antisemitism” and “unanimously approved” by 31 countries.
Meanwhile, it emerged that key Momentum figures in Barnet disparaged allegations of Jew-hate and argued over whether to defend a man refused party membership after he bemoaned the “over-representation of Jews in the capitalist ruling class”, leaked emails reveal.
Daniel Margrain’s application was rejected by the Finchley and Golders Green party in July last year. But an email thread from then until October reveals that members were split on whether his comment was antisemitic.
Jewish Voice for Labour chair, Jenny Manson, described the passage as carelessly expressed but added: “As usual in these cases, the accusation of antisemitism only looks plausible if you take these words in isolation. Which is what they always do.”
Robert Deakin, chair of the Garden Suburb branch of Finchley and Golders Green, said he thought Mr Margrain was “perpetuating dangerous fantasies of Jews pulling the levers of history”. However, Mr Deakin also said: “We need to move away from the idea that someone should be condemned as necessarily an antisemitic person for saying or believing something deemed antisemitic.”
Members also discussed the temporary expulsion of Moshe Machover, a Jewish anti-Zionist who wrote a piece titled “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism,” which quoted Hitler aide Reinhard Heydrich.
Ms Manson said this week: “We should always look at the context for any remark which is in a larger piece and think carefully about it and ideally speak to the person who has been accused of antisemitism to get their explanation.” But Mr Deakin told the JC: “Margrain’s comments were unequivocally antisemitic and should not be defended.”
They challenge every single thing on reporting’ The IHRA have provided the correct framework