Three peers resign whip
FORMER LABOUR Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said his party “owes the Jewish community an unqualified apology” in an emotional address at Hampstead Synagogue on Sunday.
In an indictment of Labour’s current disciplinary procedures, Mr Brown argued for the party to automatically expel members for antisemitism if evidence is “irrefutable”. He said Jeremy Corbyn’s party cannot be “less demanding and less immediate” on antisemitism, given it already automatically expelled people for other issues.
He continued: “We should ensure the right to an appeal, but from outside the party not from inside, and the appeal system has to be independent of the Labour Party’s hierarchy with members chosen for their standing and integrity among the public – and after consultation with Jewish and other communities.”
Mr Brown’s call was echoed by Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who told the BBC on Sunday: “People who are found guilty of antisemitism should be expelled from the party and I don’t think anyone would dispute that.”
In a speech delivered to a packed audience for the 17th annual Isaiah Berlin Lecture, Mr Brown said: “To the Jewish community, we promised ‘never again’. We promised that the crimes of hatred, discrimination and persecution would never recur.
“We promised we would offer support and protection.
“But at a time when attacks on Jewish schools have risen 100 per cent, attacks on or near Jewish synagogues 400 per cent and attacks are carried out on social media thousands of times over, we have not lived up to that promise”.
Mr Brown, who attended the lecture with his wife Sarah and one of his sons, Fraser, said an apology to the Jewish community would only be “a starting point in rebuilding trust”, calling for a broad strategy, including better education in schools and stronger laws against racism in all its forms.
He added: “We cannot go on ignoring the consequences of the upsurge in hate and hate speech, all too often in the form of sinister, anonymous and untraceable internet trolling.
“Opposing antisemitism and every manifestation of racism goes to the heart of who we are and what we stand for as Labour. It’s about the moral soul of a party, whose most basic goal is a commitment to equality for all - not just for some who suffer oppression but everyone.”
Earlier at a private reception he presented an award on behalf of the synagogue to former Labour MP Ian Austin who, he said, had done more than any other MP to tackle antisemitism. Mr Austin resigned the Labour whip in February and now sits as an independent.
Among those attending the lecture were Labour MPs Sir Keir Starmer and Dame Louise Ellman, together with former MP Ann Keen, who was formerly Mr Brown’s Parliamentary Private Secretary.
THREE LABOUR peers, including a former general secretary, have resigned their party membership, with Lord Triesman describing Labour as “very plainly institutionally antisemitic.”
In his resignation letter Lord Triesman, who served as Labour’s general secretary from 2001 to 2003, described the party as “no longer a safe political environment for Jews or other opponents of antisemitism. It is time to recognise the reality.”
Lord Triesman was joined by Lord Turnberg, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Lord Darzi, health minister under Gordon Brown. Lord Darzi is not Jewish.
The peer described how “day by day the extent and depth of antisemitism becomes clearer in the top leadership and National Executive Committee.
“Antisemites are shielded, and solid and serious party members are thrown out unceremoniously.
“And each new manifestation is met by a grim parade of social media messages directed at Jewish party members.”
“My decision is straightforwardly about the party leadership’s use of any excuse to allow their allies to attack Jews or engage with antisemites.”
Apology would only be a starting point’