Peers threaten Corbyn with confidence vote in anti-Semitism backlash
LABOUR peers are threatening a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn over his response to antiSemitism complaints.
The extraordinary move comes after the sacking of Baroness Hayter from her role as shadow Brexit minister after she compared his ‘bunker mentality’ leadership to the ‘last days of Hitler’.
The crisis escalated yesterday after members of the GMB trade union held a secret ballot and overwhelmingly backed a motion condemning the ‘toxic culture’ within the party. The motion called for change at the top following a BBC Panorama documentary exposing interference by the Labour leadership in antiSemitism cases.
Peers are planning to hold an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon next week to discuss the no-confidence motion, with a ballot to be held on Tuesday or Wednesday if it is passed. The move would not be binding, but would heighten pressure on the Labour leadership, which has been heavily criticised over its handling of anti-Semitism allegations.
Baroness Hayter was one of four peers who wrote to Mr Corbyn this week calling for an inquiry into the Panorama allegations that senior figures interfered in the disciplinary process of anti-Semitism cases.
She was critical of Mr Corbyn’s inner circle, who she claimed refused to give key information to the party’s ruling National Executive Committee – including data on party finances, membership figures and anti-Semitism complaints.
A Labour spokesman said Baroness Hayter was sacked on Wednesday night ‘for her deeply offensive remarks about Jeremy Corbyn and his office’, adding: ‘To compare the Labour leader and Labour Party staff working to elect a Labour government to the Nazi regime is truly contemptible and grossly insensitive to Jewish staff in particular.’
But Labour MPs immediately jumped to the peer’s defence.
Wes Streeting tweeted: ‘A gross over-reaction to what [Baroness Hayter] actually said – but does reinforce what she did describe, which was a bunker mentality at the top. This epitomises it. Nice to know that swift action is taken to protect [Mr Corbyn’s] feelings, but shame we can’t act against racists.’
Baroness Hayter was cheered by both sides of the House as she arrived yesterday, indicating widespread anger at her sacking.
She sat alongside Lord Harris of Haringey, chairman of the Labour peers’ group and a fierce critic of the Labour leader.
She remains Labour’s deputy leader in the House of Lords, as this – unlike the role of shadow Brexit minister – is an elected, rather than appointed, position.
Meanwhile, Labour staff yesterday voted overwhelmingly to condemn the party’s response to the Panorama revelations.
Members of the GMB union employed by Labour held a branch meeting, which backed a motion calling for an apology to former employees it said had been ‘attacked’ for being interviewed as part of the programme.
A GMB spokesman said: ‘Our members have today expressed a number of serious concerns that must be addressed by Labour Party management.’ He said an urgent meeting will be scheduled with Labour Party management.
Yesterday Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, wrote a letter to Mr Corbyn, condemning the leadership’s ‘outrageous’ treatment of anti-Semitic incidents and said the ‘leniency and laxness’ displayed by the party was ‘mind-boggling’.
‘Shame we can’t act against racists’