LISA NANDY
LABOUR LEADERSHIP candidate Lisa Nandy has blamed a “failure of leadership” for the party’s crisis over antisemitism and openly questioned how anyone denying the problem could remain a member of her party.
In an impassioned plea for the community to trust her as a potential successor to Jeremy Corbyn, the MP for Wigan said her role as a campaigner for the Palestinians would not impair her ability to tackle anti-Jewish racism.
She acknowledged there were some in Labour who would be furious she had decided to speak to the JC at all.
She said: “For those who do not welcome the fact that a leadership candidate is speaking to the Jewish Chronicle I would say that the Labour Party has got to be a broad, inclusive, church.
“But membership of this party has to start from a recognition of where we are now and how serious this is.
“Not only have we completely lost the trust of the Jewish community, but we are being investigated for institutional racism.
“If you do not accept this is a problem then you really have to question why you are in the Labour Party.”
“We are Her Majesty’s Opposition, just. Because of that, it’s very important that Labour sorts out the very serious crisis with antisemitism — and the failure of leadership shown on this issue.”
Ms Nandy accepted there were some who have been so put off by the Labour’s direction over the past few years that they would never return, and others who would accuse MPs like herself of being part of the problem for continuing to remain in the party.
But she insisted: “It is important to every person in this country, whether you are Jewish or not Jewish, left or right — you have a stake in making sure Labour gets this right.
“For a Labour leadership candidate it is essential that the JC comes and asks questions, makes sure we do this right.”
Ms Nandy appeared to relish the prospect of discussing her views on Israel, Zionism and a commitment to the Palestinian cause that has seen her act as chair and vice-chair of the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.
She visited Israel and the Palestinian territories as a newly elected MP in 2010 and became heavily involved in subsequent campaigns, particularly on the issue of child imprisonment. “Because I have been involved in the cause for the past decade I think there is a need for me to demonstrate that I have always and will continue to support the right of Israel to exist,” she concedes.
“Particularly with what has happened in the Labour Party over the past few years.”
If Mr Corbyn’s commitment to the Palestinian cause reflected a one-sided view of the conflict, Ms Nandy was keen to show her views were more balanced.
Her grandfather, she pointed out, was the pro-Israel Liberal Democrat MP Frank Byers, who later became a life peer.
“He was one of the very many people who fought to establish the state of Israel,” said Ms Nandy.
“He once made a speech in Parliament about a people, a group of refugees looking for a home, for security, with a very troubled recent past.
“About needing that security and having Britain to defend that right.”
Ms Nandy said she felt a “symmetry” with speeches she has given on the need for “recognition of Palestine several decades later”.
She added: “It surely has to be possible that both of these things are true.”
Ms Nandy said that, unlike Mr Corbyn, it would be “important” for her to visit “Israel and Palestine” if she became Labour leader on April 4.
She has visited Israel on three occasions, adding she was struck by “those people trying to reach across and have dialogue. I want these people to know that the Labour Party supports what they are doing.”
Ms Nandy said that the word “Zionism” had been “horribly distorted and weaponised” by some in her party.
“It has become really unhelpful for the debate,” she added. “I believe that Israel’s right to exist is actually the only way to guarantee a two-state solution and the rights of the Palestinians too.
“I dislike the way we have started using these terms in the party as a term of abuse. I want this to stop. This is the sort of leadership I would show.”
While Labour Friends of Palestine has taken “no stance” on the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement, Ms Nandy said she was “opposed to it”.
Her objection to BDS was “mainly because given the very particular circumstances around the state of Israel
The word “Zionism” has been horribly distorted by some in the party’
The members have to start from a recognition of where we are’