What the commentators said

I think we can all agree that Corbyn’s handling of this row has been less than perfect, said Mark Steel in The Independent. Yet you can’t help wondering whether, for some people, the motivation for accusing him of anti-semitism “may be a teeny bit driven by the fact that they don’t really like him”. But Corbyn has made it easy for critics, said Alan Lockey on Capx. His rejection of the IHRA definition was “a wilful decision to take the road of most resistance”. Why adopt such a provocative stance? One theory is that Corbyn fears that he may be vulnerable if Labour adopts the full definition, but there’s “scant evidence of him having legally violated the IHRA code himself”. More likely, it’s an act of obstinacy, or a cynical move to push moderate members out of his party, thereby bolstering his control of Labour.

If the latter theory is true, Corbyn’s gambit has backfired, said Tom Mctague on Politico. For this row has, if anything, left him looking more isolated. Last week, Momentum – the grass-roots group established to back his leadership – withdrew its support for the re-election of the Corbynite Peter Willsman to Labour’s ruling body. The move came after a recording emerged in which Willsman said he had never witnessed anti-semitism in Labour, and blamed Jewish “Trump fanatics” for cooking up a fuss. John Mcdonnell, the shadow chancellor, has also sought to distance himself from Corbyn, said Henry Zeffman in The Times. Some blame Seumas Milne, Labour’s communications chief, for the fact that Corbyn has not taken a more pragmatic approach to the anti-semitism row. Milne has long been a fierce critic of Israel. (An Oxford contemporary recalled him spending his years there “wearing a Mao jacket and talking with a fake Palestinian accent”, and pushing anti-israel motions in the student common room.)

A “fissure” may be opening up between Momentum – whose director, Jon Lansman, is Jewish – and the Labour leadership, said Helen Lewis in The Observer. Forget the war between Blairites and Corbynites – Corbyn has won that. “All the action now is left on left.” Alas, these internal fights make it even less likely that Labour will offer the effective opposition we need.