Lecturer says Starmer gets ‘Zionist’ money
V A BRISTOL University lecturer has claimed Sir Keir Starmer is “obviously not going to” conduct “a proper investigation” into the leaked Labour antisemitism report because he has been “in receipt of money from the Zionist movement”.
David Miller — Professor of Political Sociology in the School for Policy Studies — made his remarks after taking part in an online broadcast hosted by former Labour MP Chris Williamson, entitled ‘Debate on the contents of and fallout from the #LabourLeaks document’.
The YouTube debate saw Prof Miller appear alongside Asa Winstanley, who recently quit Labour ahead of an antisemitism expulsion hearing, and KerryAnne Mendoza, editor of The Canary, a pro-Corbyn website that regularly peddles conspiracy theories.
Addressing the controversial leaked report, Prof Miller said: “We are obviously not going to get a proper investigation of this by Comrade Starmer or by Lisa Nandy — who have been in receipt of money from the Zionist movement, from Trevor Chinn.
“And connections between the Zionist movement and the current leadership of Labour Party — it’s not the only people they have connections with.
“Many other super rich people have given them money, hedge fund owners and the like — but a significant element of support has come from the Zionist movement.”
Last week, the JC revealed that Sir Keir had been targeted by hard-left activists after it emerged that Sir Trevor Chinn, a Jewish philanthropist, had donated £50,000 to his leadership campaign.
Prof Miller then referred to a meeting between the Board of Deputies and Lisa Nandy, the new Shadow Foreign Secretary, held last week online.
He said: “And I saw just the other day Lisa Nandy in a video conference with the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies, including of course the very personage of Trevor Chinn, one of the key Zionist movers and shakers who have spent a long time trying to influence the Labour Party going back to the Blair years and more.”
During the lengthy broadcast Prof Miller suggested that host Mr Williamson had been a “victim”, as had Mr Winstanley, of a “witch-hunt” against proPalestinian activists.
Mr Williamson was accused of ‘Jewbaiting’ before his suspension from Labour and stood against the party’s candidate in December’s General Election — a breach of rules that meant he was automatically expelled.
Mr Winstanley was suspended in May 2019 over a string of anti-Israel and antiZionist remarks and had been alerted about a disciplinary hearing in which he faced expulsion.
Speaking last Friday, Prof Miller claimed that “even supporters of Jeremy Corbyn went along with the witchhunt” under current General Secretary Jennie Formby.
He added: “That to me was one of the key reasons why Corbyn was sunk. There was such a lack of understanding of Zionism, of the Zionist movement, of the Israel lobby which goes along with that and how it was to argue that particular things were antisemitic.”
Professor Miller also suggested that an “alliance” between MI5 and the Zionists may have helped in the propaganda war against the former Labour leader.
Meanwhile, Canary editor Ms Mendoza spoke of “the way in which racism was weaponised — the language of antiracism was weaponised, undermined anti-racism itself.”
She said: “As a person of colour what most offends me even now, we knew when this was happening, that the witch-hunt, this antisemitism witchhunt, had a particularly strong, passionate, deep-running hatred for black women. That was clear.
“It was a prominent conversation on the left… they really seemed to get their rocks off going after black women.”
Last year the Community Security Trust complained to Bristol University about a lecture given earlier in the year by Prof Miller in which he claimed that parts of the Zionist movement were funding hatred of Muslims.
Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, announced in December that he had launched a probe into the role of the Canary and other far-left websites in the growth of Jew-hate in the UK.
The JC contacted Prof Miller and Ms Mendoza for comment.
I saw Nandy in a video conference with the Board and JLC’