Corbyn has a deep prejudice against Jews, claims Hunt
JEREMY Hunt has accused Jeremy Corbyn of having ‘deeply held prejudices’ against Jews and ‘opening the door’ to anti-Semitism.
After describing a visit to Auschwitz, the Tory leadership contender said it was ‘ truly frightening’ that Labour was led by someone with Mr Corbyn’s views.
He told the Jewish News: ‘When I went to Auschwitz, I rather complacently said to myself, “Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that kind of thing happening in the UK”, and now I find myself faced with the leader of the Labour Party who has opened the door to anti-Semitism in a way that is truly frightening.’
Asked if he agreed with former
‘Turned a blind eye to anti-Semitism’
leadership contender Matt Hancock’s description of Mr Corbyn as an anti-Semite, Mr Hunt said: ‘He has turned a blind eye to anti-Semitism, and I think he has crossed the line from criticising Israel and its foreign policy – which everyone has a legitimate right to do – to criticising the Jewish people.
‘Some of his comments – for example about Jewish people not understanding English irony – betray some deeply held prejudices which ought to worry people.’
Mr Hunt told The Daily Telegraph that he was ‘the only person who can save the country’ from Mr Corbyn. He added: ‘We’ve seen the furious reaction rumours about Corbyn’s frailty. But it’s not whispers about his physical fitness that should worry us, it’s his fitness to govern the country.’
Mr Hunt pledged to deliver the British people from ‘the most hard-Left leader in the West’, who be ‘a disaster at home’ and ‘a dagger in the heart of the Western alliance that has kept us safe for 75 years’.
Labour has been engulfed in an anti-Semitism crisis, and is under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The issue threatens to split the party after a row over MP Chris Williamson flared up again last week.
The Labour Party suspended the backbencher in February over allegations of antiSemitism. But he was allowed back into the party last Wednesday, causing a furore. The Derby North MP was then suspended again by the party on Friday.
A pregnant Labour MP has been threatened with deselecto tion after she signed a statement criticising Mr Williamson’s readmittance to the party.
A Labour member in Ellie Reeves’s Lewisham West and Penge constituency wants her to face a ‘trigger ballot’.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson branded the plot ‘reprehensible bullying’ that verged on ‘mob rule’.
A Labour source said of Mr Hunt’s comments: ‘Jeremy Hunt should be ashamed of himself.’