Corbyn slammed over ‘safe space’ for anti-Semites
Blistering official Commons rebuke for ‘incompetent’ leader and his ‘whitewash’ sidekick for failing to stamp out vile abuse of Jews
JEREMY CORBYN and his Leftwing ally Shami Chakrabarti are shamed in a Commons report today for failing to stamp out ‘vicious’ anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.
The powerful all-party Home Affairs Select Committee accuses the ‘incompetent’ Labour leader of allowing ‘vile’ abuse of Jewish people. And it blasts former Liberty chief Chakrabarti for accepting a peerage from Mr Corbyn after her inquiry into anti-Semitic attacks on Labour MPs, which was dismissed by critics as a ‘whitewash’.
Blairite MP Chuka Umunna, a member of the Home Affairs Committee, seized on the findings to attack Mr Corbyn, saying: ‘It would be cowardly to shy away from the problem – people’s right to freedom from hatred is bigger than any individual or party.’
But last night in an astonishing counter-attack, Mr Corbyn accused the committee of bias against his party and of being ‘unfair’ to Ms Chakrabarti. He claimed the report was ‘politicising’ anti-Semitism as a weapon against Labour, and ‘violated natural justice’ by criticising people without giving them a right to be heard.
In their report, MPs claim Labour has been ‘compromised’ by its failure to deal with anti-Semitic incidents: ‘Mr Corbyn’s lack of consistent leadership on this issue has created a “safe space” for those with vile attitudes towards Jewish people, exacerbated by the party’s incompetence at dealing with members accused of anti-Semitism.’
They are equally scathing about the role of Ms Chakrabarti, who was
‘We must tackle this insidious form of hate’
appointed Shadow Attorney General by Mr Corbyn two weeks ago, after he gave her a peerage.
It followed her controversial report in which she allegedly played down the problem of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.
She later came under more fire for urging Jewish people not to desert Labour because she did not want to be left alone ‘with Essex man’.
Today’s report says: ‘Her decision to join Labour and accept a peerage from Mr Corbyn, along with her recent appointment to his Shadow Cabinet, has thrown into question the independence of her inquiry.’
Humiliatingly for Ms Chakrabarti, MPs reveal that they asked her to confirm when Mr Corbyn offered her a peerage – before or after he asked her to compile the antiSemitism report – to try to establish if the two issues were linked. But she refused to answer, they say.
And it says her call for a time limit on Labour investigations into antiSemitic abuse by activists should be scrapped. It adds that Mr Corbyn’s ‘failure to deal with antiSemitic incidents risks lending force to allegations that elements of the Labour movement are institutionally anti-Semitic’.
Labour has been ‘incompetent’ over its handling of high-profile allegations of anti-Semitism, including those involving former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who said Hitler supported Zionism, and Jackie Walker, who was forced to step down as vice-chairwoman of the pro-Corbyn Momentum group.
The MPs also lambast Twitter chiefs for failing to curb antiSemitic abuse. ‘In the context of its £2.2 billion global revenue, it is deplorable that Twitter continues to act as an inert host for vast swathes of anti-Semitic hate,’ they say. It has the ‘resources and technical capability’ to stop it and ‘must do more to address this pernicious problem’.
The MPs urge the Government to promote a ‘new zero-tolerance of anti-Semitism’ and consider outlawing the persistent use of the word ‘Zionist’ as a term of abuse.
Despite the report’s grim findings, it says the UK is ‘one of the least anti-Semitic countries in Europe’ –although as many as one in 20 Britons is ‘clearly anti-Semitic’. Tory MP Tim Loughton, the committee’s acting chairman, said: ‘History shows anti-Semitism is too easily spread through pernicious discourse, ignorance and collusion.
‘We call on all political leaders to tackle the growing prevalence of this insidious form of hate.’
A Twitter spokesman said: ‘Hateful conduct has no place on Twitter and we will continue to tackle this issue head-on alongside our partners in industry and civil society.’ The company has agreed to stage talks with Ministers on the issue.
Last night Mr Corbyn hit back: ‘The report unfairly criticises Shami Chakrabarti for not being sufficiently independent.
‘The offer to appoint Chakrabarti to the House of Lords came after completion of her report and was based on her extensive legal and campaigning experience.’