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 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.’
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 controversial backbencher in February over allegations of anti-semitism.
But he was allowed back into the party last Wednesday after receiving a formal warning, causing a furore. More than 120 MPs and peers backed calls for Mr Corbyn to ‘immediately’ remove the Labour whip from the controversial backbencher.
The Derby north MP was then suspended once again by the party on Friday, and the decision to let him back in is to be reviewed. A pregnant Labour MP has been threatened with deselection 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’.
If the ballot was successful, she could be replaced as the party’s candidate for the next general election.
The targeting of Mrs Reeves, who is 22 weeks’ pregnant, comes after MP Luciana Berger quit the party when she faced similar moves to oust her while she was expecting a baby.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson branded the plot ‘reprehensible bullying’ that verged on ‘mob rule’. He said: ‘A small group of people are trying to bully another pregnant MP out of the party. This reprehensible behaviour cannot be tolerated.’
Former acting party leader Harriet Harman tweeted: ‘Ellie Reeves, elected in 2017, is not going to be deselected by Labour in 2019 while five months’ pregnant. We are not going to let it happen. Full stop!’
A Labour source said of Mr Hunt’s comments: ‘Jeremy Hunt should be ashamed of himself. This baseless political attack comes from the Foreign secretary that has supported a government that actively promotes anti-semitic policies in Hungary, and woos Donald Trump, who refused to condemn neo-fascists in Charlottesville who chanted “Jews will not replace us”.’
‘Turned a blind eye to anti-Semitism’