CORBYN LOSES THE PLOT OVER ANTI-SEMITISM
Labour i n turmoil as second rebel MP brands party ‘a sewer’ Mounting backlash could even cost leader his beloved allotment
J E REMY C ORBYN faced mounting anger over Labour’s anti-Semitism row last night as it emerged the dispute has led to a bizarre call to throw him off his allotment.
The threat came as The Mail on Sunday obtained details of another furious clash between a Labour MP and a senior party figure over the anti- Semitism controversy. The MP, Ian Austin, a former No 10 aide to Gordon Brown, has been warned he could be kicked out of the party after a slanging match with Labour
chairman Ian Lavery. Mr Austin, whose grandmother was murdered in the Holocaust, told Corbyn crony Mr Lavery that Labour’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism was a ‘bloody disgrace’ and that the party had become ‘ a sewer’. Mr Lavery angrily denied the claims.
The dust-up was a near carboncopy of the heated confrontation between former Labour Minister Dame Margaret Hodge and Mr Corbyn. She was reported to have called him a ‘f****** anti-Semite and a racist’ after Labour’s National Executive Committee decided against adopting the internationally accepted definition of antiSemitism in its code of conduct.
Dame Margaret denied swearing but has been told she also faces a disciplinary investigation.
This newspaper has seen a copy of a letter to Mr Austin by Labour General Secretary Jennie Formby threatening to punish him after his row with Mr Lavery – which happened the same day as Dame Margaret’s clash with Mr Corbyn.
Ms Formby, a close personal friend and political ally of Unite leader Len McCluskey, warned Mr Austin: ‘Allegations that you may have been involved in a breach of Labour Party rules have been brought to our attention.
‘They relate to abusive conduct i n Parliament on 16 July and 17 July 2018, which may be in breach of rule 2.1.8.
‘It is important that these allegations are properly investigated.
‘You should be aware that any future behaviour of a similar nature to the allegation above could result i n further disciplinary action, including suspension.
‘An Investigating Officer will be appointed to arrange the investigation. Please quote case CN-0217 on all correspondence. It is hoped you will offer your full co-operation.’
The extraordinary t hreat to strip Mr Corbyn of his allotment came from the council in Barnet, which administers the land where the Labour leader has his vegetable patch in East Finchley, four miles from his Islington home.
According to the latest official minutes of Barnet Council, the idea was put forward by Conservative Leader Richard Cornelius in direct response to Mr Corbyn’s clash with Dame Margaret.
Labour’s failure to win the borough from the Tories in the May town hall elections was blamed by local Labour leaders on the longrunning anti-Semitism controversy in the party. Fifteen per cent of Barnet voters have Jewish roots.
Commenting on Mr Corbyn’s decision to call off a visit to Barnet after Labour’s flop, councillor and ex-Tory MP John Marshall asked Mr Cornelius to issue a fresh invitation to the Labour leader to discuss ‘the scourge of anti-Semitism, in the interests of community cohesion and wellbeing’.
Mr Cornelius replied: ‘This would be helpful. Margaret Hodge MP has labelled Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite. I wonder whether he should still have a Barnet allotment.’
Mr Cornelius was backed last night by Barnet’s deputy Tory leader Daniel Thomas, who said: ‘ The council leader is right to question whether Mr Corbyn should have an allotment in Barnet. He doesn’t even live here and his i naction on anti- Semit Semitism offends many Barnet residents residents.’ Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, said: ‘Given how Jeremy Corbyn has completely lost the plot over anti- Semitism and caused grave offence to so many Jewish people living in Barnet, it would be fitting if he lost his allotment there too.’ Mr Pollard’s newspaper was one of three Jewish papers which last week took the unprecedented step of publishing a joint front page warning the Jewish community faced an ‘existential threat’ if Mr Corbyn became Prime Minister. However, it was unclear last night if the local council had the power to strip Mr Corbyn of his plot. Allotments in Barnet are run by the Barnet Allotments Federation. Until recently most were run by the council but most are now leased from the council.
The Mail on Sunday has been told that the complaints against both Dame Margaret and Mr Austin were ‘orchestrated’ by Mr Corbyn’s own officials – enabling them to trigger formal investigations.
A former Labour Minister said l ast night: ‘ There are deeply sinister goings-on in our party. It
‘Corbyn apparatchiks are trying to crush the truth’
says all you need to know about Corbyn that his apparatchiks show such venom in going after people who protest about anti-Semitism and turn a blind eye to those guilty of it. They are trying to crush people for telling the truth.’
Some of Mr Corbyn’s own allies have admitted the scale of antiSemitism in the party. Jon Lansman, l eader of t he Left- wing Momentum campaign group, said last week: ‘We have a unique problem. We have to handle far more cases than anybody else.’
Labour last night declined to comment on the allotment threat and dismissed as ‘absurd’ the claim that complaints against Mr Austin and Dame Margaret had been orchestrated by the Leader’s office.
‘An allotment in Barnet? He doesn’t even live here’