Labour has become the nasty party

Anyone scouring the news yesterday for April Fool jokes might have paused over the revelation that a crossdressing comedian had been elevated to the ruling body of the Labour Party. But unlikely as it seemed, Eddie Izzard, a stand-up comic, had indeed joined Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) as the anti-semitism controversy that continues to rock the official opposition claimed another scalp.

Mr Izzard replaces Christine Shawcroft, who resigned after opposing the suspension of a local council candidate accused of denying the historical truth of the Holocaust. Her departure was a setback for Jeremy Corbyn since Ms Shawcroft was elected from the Momentum organisation, thereby strengthening the leader’s grip on the NEC.

However much Mr Corbyn seeks to distance the leadership from the cascade of allegations of racism and misogyny now engulfing his party, more members are stepping forward to talk of their experiences and demand action. A letter signed by 39 Labour MPS and peers has urged Mr Corbyn to purge the party of anti-semites and apologists. The criticism is coming from within Labour despite the best efforts of Mr Corbyn and Momentum to blame everyone else, including the press.

It is evident that decent Labourites are appalled by what is happening and the damage it is doing to the party’s efforts to project itself as an inclusive and tolerant movement. But they are trapped by their leader’s dependence for support on hard Left activists whose geopolitical outlook is motivated predominantly by a hatred of America and Israel.

For Labour’s opponents, there is an element of schadenfreude in all of this, as a party that likes to lecture everyone else on human rights and racism finds itself pilloried for its shortcomings in both areas. It is now truly the nasty party.

Much of what is happening is a reminder of why Mr Corbyn is unsuited to form a government. Not only is he disqualified by his failure to recognise where the national interest lies, as with the standoff with Russia, but he is sustained in office by a minority of activists many of whom evince antidemocratic instincts. Even though most of his MPS voted to get rid of him, they can’t. But they should not then inflict him on the rest of us by continuing to back his efforts to win power.

Perhaps Mr Izzard will usher in a new approach. His comedic style is described as taking the form of rambling, whimsical monologues and selfreferential pantomime; so then again, perhaps not.