Corbyn and his secret link to pregnant Jewish MP’s tormentor

THE anti-Semitism storm engulfing Jeremy Corbyn deepened last night after the Labour leader was linked to the official at the centre of allegations about the racist bullying of a pregnant Jewish MP.

Luciana Berger – dubbed a ‘dirty little Zionist rat’ by pro-Corbyn activists – is thought to be so disgusted by Labour anti-Semitism she is on the brink of leaving to form a breakaway party.

Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal previously undisclosed links between Mr Corbyn and Alex Scott-Samuel, who has led the drive to force out Ms Berger. Dr ScottSamuel even met the Labour leader to discuss what he considered the ‘victimisation’ of anti-Zionist Corbynistas such as himself.

This newspaper today also publishes more devastating extracts from Tom Bower’s bombshell biography of Mr Corbyn, detailing the full extent of the anti-Semitism scandal on his watch.

Revelations that will further rock the Labour leadership include:

Bower’s account of how Mr Corprovocatively byn’s anti-Zionism has its roots in his first job as a union official, where he came to believe in the ‘malign collective power of Jews’;

Bower’s exposé of the mood of ‘flippant disdain’ among Mr Corbyn’s staff before a summit with the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who protested that the Labour leader associated with people who were ‘blatantly racist’;

How Mr Corbyn’s own constituency chairwoman dismissed the anti-Semitism scandal as ‘baseless smears’ which have been ‘orchestrated’ by Israeli ‘fifth columnists’;

An admission by Labour MP John Mann that ‘Jew-haters are among us and the lack of action is undoubtedly emboldening them’. Meanwhile, the Government has tabled a Commons debate for Wednesday on ‘antiSemitism in modern society’ designed to embarrass the Opposition front bench.

Earlier this month Ms Berger, who is due to give birth in under a fortnight, fought off a constituency motion of no confidence following an outcry by moderate MPs.

It had been approved by Dr ScottSamuel, chairman of her Liverpool Wavertree constituency party, on the grounds that her campaign against anti-Semitism amounted to ‘disloyalty’ to Mr Corbyn. She has since endured vitriolic ‘trolling’ on local party websites, being called an ‘Israeli attack dog’, a ‘dirty little Zionist rat’ and worse.

Dr Scott-Samuel met Mr Corbyn in 2016 over what he claimed was the ‘victimisation’ of anti-Zionists’ in the party, saying as much on Twitter. He was also given a centrestage position as Mr Corbyn took to the stage at last year’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool – during which Ms Berger needed an armed guard to protect her against militant Corbynistas.

Mr Corbyn was photographed warmly greeting Dr Scott-Samuel as he stepped on to the podium. A friend of Ms Berger’s said: ‘Luciana could justifiably fear that the entire party apparatus from London to Liverpool is sinisterly acting in concert to prevent her stamping out this cancer. It would be bad enough at any time, let alone when she is about to give birth’.

Ms Berger issued a statement this weekend which appeared to put Mr Corbyn on a final warning to sort out the anti-Semitism problem – or face a split in his party.

She said: ‘I have been deeply disturbed by the lack of response from the leadership to the anti-Semitism that stains our party.

‘I and my colleagues have been calling on the leadership for months to put in place proper measures to tackle this issue. The sad, frustrating, deeply disappointing fact is that I do not believe that the leadership is properly dealing with anti-Semitism.

‘I believe we have a serious problem. I will not be a bystander to anti-Semitism. I will continue, unapologetically and with the support of the vast majority, to call out anti-Semitism wherever it rears its ugly head.’

This week’s extracts from Mr Bower’s book, Dangerous Hero: Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot For Power, trace Mr Corbyn’s anti-Zionist beliefs to his first job as a researcher for the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers.

The author says Mr Corbyn’s campaigns for low-paid workers against ‘exploitative Jewish employers’ convinced him of ‘the malign collective power of Jews’.

Mr Bower adds: ‘The truth is that Corbyn’s antagonism towards Zionism is one of the most consistent – and toxic – lines of his career. To him, Jews aren’t victims of racism and oppression but rather racist oppressors themselves.’

The author also describes the mood of ‘flippant disdain’ in Mr Corbyn’s office before a crisis sum- mit with the Board of Deputies of British Jews over anti-Semitism, and the complaint from Jonathan Arkush, its president, that Mr Corbyn associated with people who were ‘blatantly racist’.

Bassetlaw MP Mr Mann, a leading campaigner against antiSemitism, told this newspaper: ‘We expect Labour members to be above reproach when it comes to racist discrimination and abuse.

‘But it’s fairly clear that Jewhaters are among us and the lack of action is undoubtedly emboldening them.

‘The sooner we make our members clear that anti-Semitism is not and will never be tolerated, the sooner we can start becoming the antidote to anti-Semitism on the Left, rather than the culture from which it can grow.’

Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: ‘Labour’s leadership is now increasingly seen to hold views at odds with British values.’

Labour said: ‘We take all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms. All complaints about anti-Semitism are fully investigated and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.’

‘Dubbed a dirty little Zionist rat’

‘Clear Jew-haters are among us’