Labour in civil war meltdown over anti semitism
LABOUR was last night being torn apart by a vicious civil war over anti-semitism.
On the darkest day of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, he was forced to suspend close friend Ken Livingstone for an extraordinary outburst in which he claimed Hitler was a ‘Zionist’.
Mr Livingstone was condemned by Labour MPs and activists after making a series of explosive claims, including saying that the Nazi leader backed moving German Jews to Israel ‘before he went mad’.
As he toured studios repeating the remarks, he was confronted by Labour backbencher John Mann, who called him a ‘lying racist’ and ‘disgusting Nazi apologist’. Mr Corbyn came under immense pressure from senior shadow cabinet figures, backbench MPs and Jewish groups to expel Mr Livingstone from the party immediately.
However, it was claimed that the Labour leader was extremely reluctant even to suspend Mr Livingstone and agreed to do so only if Mr Mann suffered the same fate.
Labour whips are said to have refused point blank to exclude
the MP, laying bare the tensions at the heart of the party as moderates and the hard-Left wrestle for control.
Last night, Mr Corbyn dismissed claims of a crisis in Labour and denied there was a problem of anti-semitism within his party.
He suggested the row had been whipped up by moderate Labour MPs plotting to destabilise his leadership because they feared being removed from their seats by his army of militant supporters.
The Labour leader said he had ‘concerns about the language used’ and wouldn’t tolerate anti-semitism, but added that he was ‘very sad’ to kick out Mr Livingstone.
‘There’s no crisis,’ he told the BBC. ‘I suspect that much of this criticism that you’re saying about a crisis in the party comes from people who are nervous about the strength of the Labour Party at a local level.’
The comments were seen as a direct challenge to moderate Labour MPs, who are themselves under siege from pro-Corbyn activists trying to deselect them.
Jewish Labour donor David Abrahams, who has given £650,000 to the party, called for Mr Corbyn to resign, saying a new leader was needed to cut out the ‘cancer’ of antiSemitism. ‘The crises have arisen as a consequence of the weak and ineffectual leadership of Jeremy Corbyn,’ he said.
The row exploded after Mr Livingstone, who was appointed by Mr Corbyn to join a foreign policy review, took to the airwaves yesterday to defend Bradford MP Naz Shah over claims of anti-semitism. Mr Livingstone blamed criticism of her on a ‘smear campaign’ by the ‘Israel lobby’, adding that it was ‘over the top’ to suggest anti-semitism and racism were ‘exactly the same thing’.
He then made the explosive claim – dismissed by historians – that Hitler was a Zionist who supported Jews being moved to Israel in 1932. Zionism is the political belief in the need for the creation of a Jewish state. He suggested that to be a ‘real anti-semite’ someone has to hate not just Jewish people in Israel but ‘their Jewish neighbour in Golders Green or in Stoke Newington’.
Mr Livingstone said: ‘Let’s remember when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism – this before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.
‘Naz made these comments at a time when there was another brutal Israeli attack on the Palestinians. As I’ve said, I’ve never heard anybody say anything anti-semitic, but there’s been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as anti-semitic.’
It was as he entered the Millbank studios in Westminster for another interview that Mr Livingstone was confronted by Mr Mann.
The second suspension of a senior Labour figure in as many days for anti-semitic remarks sparked uproar in Westminster.
Around 30 Labour MPs demanded Mr Livingstone be expelled from the party.
Shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger said: ‘Ken’s comments are a disgrace and have no place in our party.’
Jon Lansman, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, wrote on Twitter: ‘A period of silence from Ken Livingstone is overdue. It’s time he left politics altogether.’
There was also outrage over the decision by Mr Corbyn to issue a public telling off to Mr Mann. Party chief whip, Rosie Winterton is said to have refused to suspend Mr Mann.
One report – furiously denied – also claimed Mr Corbyn’s director of communications, Seumas Milne, had argued against Mr Livingstone’s suspension, saying he ‘had a point’.
Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, said: ‘Not sure which is worse, deliberately distorting Hitler’s goals or accusing his Jewish victims of being his partners.’
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