Bodyguards for Jewish delegates at Labour conference
Even Corbyn’s own MPs may get minders after shameful attacks by his hardline supporters
JEWISH delegates at next month’s Labour Party conference will be given bodyguards as fears grow for their safety amid the raging anti-Semitism row that has engulfed Jeremy Corbyn.
The protection will even be offered to Jewish Labour MPs who have been the victims of abuse from many hardline supporters of the party leader.
The row deepened this weekend when Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger attacked Mr Corbyn for accusing British Zionists of having ‘no sense of irony’ despite having ‘lived in Britain all of their lives’.
The former Shadow Minister for public health said she felt ‘unwelcome’ in her own party after Mr Corbyn’s ‘inexcusable comments’.
Now, The Mail on Sunday understands that the Jewish Labour Movement, whose Parliamentary chair is Ms Berger, has held talks with t he Community Security Trust – which guards the Jewish community in Britain – about providing minders for the Liverpool conference.
A source said: ‘This conference will be particularly tense as much of the worst anti-Semitic trolling on the internet has been traced back to hotspots in Merseyside.
‘The CST are reporting back with a full assessment of the security requirements. There is a real concern about safety.’
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg had to be provided with her own security team at last year’s conference in Brighton after being bombarded with sexist abuse by some Corbyn supporters for alleged anti-Labour bias.
Yesterday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid turned up the heat on Mr Corbyn over the ‘irony’ row, saying: ‘ If Corbyn had said“Asians” or “Blacks” instead of “Zionists”, he’d be gone by now.
‘The fact he’s still there tells us all we need to know about what the Labour Party has become.’
The Conservatives have tried to exploit the row by lodging a formal complaint with the Parliamentary standards watchdog, asking it to investigate if Mr Corbyn breached the code of conduct, which says MPs must not damage the reputation of the Commons.
Mr Corbyn’s remarks, to Jewish blogger Richard Millett during a meeting in 2013, were captured on film. Mr Millett – whose family arrived in England more than 100 years ago and founded the eponymous outdoor clothing chain – said
‘I am scared on a physical level’
yesterday he feared for his safety. ‘I don’t know what will happen,’ he added. ‘I am scared on a physical level and the Jewish community is upset about what they see is happening. I think we are all scared.
‘I am sure he [Mr Corbyn] knows me and knows I am Jewish as we had come across each other on a number of occasions before this meeting.
‘He would have been aware of who I was when he made his outrageous and racist comments.’ He demanded an apology, saying: ‘I am English. I have been part of English irony, humour, culture, for the past 50 years. It just seems to be that I am not part of Jeremy Corbyn’s Britain’.
Mr Corbyn said he was referring to Zionists in the political sense.
A spokesman said: ‘The Labour Party is committed to tackling anti- Semitism both in the party and in wider society and is committed to the security and well-being of all Jewish people.’