Local pro-Corbyn motions spark fear and anger
ATTEMPTS BY supporters of Jeremy Corbyn to force through motions at Labour Party meetings in support of the ex-leader have led to spate of incidents over the past week in which Jewish members have expressed fears about their own safety.
At a meeting of Nottingham East Labour Party last Friday, a local Jewish member confirmed he had quit the online meeting after he a man “abused me in front of witnesses” without censure from the chair.
Steve Lapsley said he had become embroiled in the“horrific” incident after the man denied clams of antisemitism in Labour.
Multiple sources inside the meeting contacted the JC to confirm that the intimidating atmosphere. Local MP Nadia Whittome, previously a staunch supporter of Mr Corbyn, intervened twice to condemn the decision to allow the motion to be heard.
Mr Lapsley has previously been on the left of the Labour Party and at times had clashed with some campaigners who attacked Mr Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism.
But he said the motions being tabled at local Labour meetings had created an increasingly hostile environment.
One new local member told the JC after Friday’s meeting: “I’m shocked at what I’ve just seen. It breaks my heart, actually.” Another member described the meeting as “the least safe place” they had been in “for a long time.”
The chair of Nottingham East CLP, Louise Regan, is a National Education Union official who, alongside her husband, Ivan We ls, is a supporter of the pro-Corbyn Jewish Voice For Labour group.
Labour confirmed they had suspended her pending an investigation into her conductatthemeeting.Ms Regan said she was “deeply disappointed” at the decision to suspend her and added she rejected allegations of inappropriate conduct against her.
Meanwhile, Labour confirmed it had suspended both the chair and vice-chair of Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party, after the JC reported on a meeting last Thursday at which both individuals ignored warnings that a motion calling for Mr Corbyn to be reinstated as a Labour MP was not competent business.
Chair Pete Firmin, who is also secretary of the hard-line Labour Representation Committee group, and Bridget Dunne, vice-chair membership of the north London CLP, were both informed
that they were administratively suspended from Sir Keir Starmer’s party pending investigation.
An observer from Labour’s London regional office witnessed last week’s Hampstead and Kilburn meeting — and his advice not to discuss the motion, which had been tabled by Unite Community Camden, was ignored.
Amongst its 2,000-strong membership, Hampstead and Kilburn CLP has a sizeable Jewish presence. Senior figures within the Jewish Labour Movement live within the constituency.
The JC has previously revealed how Mr Firmin has campaigned for Mr Corbyn since he was suspended from the party.
His photo was circulated by a pro-Co rbyn social media site as part of a demonstration in support of the former leader earlier this month.
Last week, he again appeared in a photograph published by the Guardian newspaper on a pro-Corbyn demo.
Mr Firmin, who is a supporter of the Jewish Voice For Labour group, once wrote in support of former London mayor Ken Livingstone, saying he was “being disciplined not for antisemitism, but for causing offence to defenders of Israel ”. He has also been out spoken in his support of Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein, both of whom have been expelled from Labour. Ms Dun ne circulated amessage in support of a group holding up signs saying “Jewish Not Zionist” on her Twitter page.
Local MP Tulip Siddiq later tweeted: “I am angry and saddened that clear instructions from Labour HQ were deliberately ignore data meeting of my local CLP in order to debate a motion that would obviously cause considerable hurt to the Jewish community.
“I wasn’t present at the section of the meeting when the motion was debated, and I have been working with local members and party officials since to establish what took place and ensure that appropriate action is taken in response to any rule-breaking.”
Ms Dunne said: “Labour Party rules prohibit discussion of ongoing disciplinary matters.”
On Monday, a Labour meeting in Ching ford and Wood ford Green sparked
I’m shocked at what I’ve seen. It breaks my heart’
further anger among Jewish members.
Both the chair and the vice-chair gave speeches in which they openly criticised Sir Keir Starmer and General Secretary David Evans over their response to the damning report into antisemitism.
Multiple sources confirmed to the JC that chair Gary Lefley had used Monday evening’ s meeting top raise former leader Jeremy Corby n–while accusing Sir Keir of being “in breach” of the E qualities and Human Rights Commission( EH R C) report by removing the whip from the former Labour leader.
In her speech, vice-chair Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, a leading figure in the Jewish Voice For Labour group, attacked Mr Evans over his attempt to protect Jewish members at Labour meetings.
At one stage, it is claimed Ms Wimborne-Idrissi openly asked new delegates, who are members of the Jewish Labour Movement(JLM ), to identify themselves to the meeting–and suggested that if they had any criticism of her speech they should speak out to all members rather than comment in the online chat.
Ms Wimborne-Idrissi also openly praised the speech by another member who had attacked the alleged “weaponisation” of antisemitism claims.
In a message circulated to all at the meeting and later among members of the local party, she wrote: “May I just say there are many Jews in the party, including me, who endorse 100 per cent what Pippa said about the weaponisation.
“The cynical manipulation of Jewish fears and concerns is unforgivable and under mines all our work against racism of all kinds.”
On Tuesday, Labour members confirmed to the JC that they considered the meeting to have been a “deeply unpleasant environment .”
The JC approached the chair and vicechair for comment.
An earlier message sent to all CLPs by Labour General Secretary David Evans had noted how pro-Corbyn motions could “undermine the Labour Party’s ability to provide a safe and welcoming space for all members, in particular our Jewish members… Therefore all motions which touch on these issues must be ruled out of order.”
In a sign that the Labour leadership was determined take action, an official from the North West Region office prevented Liverpool Riverside CLP from discussing the matter at a meeting last Friday. Chipping Barnet Labour Party also confirmed that two motions expressing support for Mr Corbyn would now not be discussed on Thursday.