Disappointment as Boris Johnson praises Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at his last PMQs without reference to the fear he instilled in British Jews

At yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, which was Jeremy Corbyn’s last as leader of the Labour Party, Boris Johnson praised the Leader of the Opposition without referencing his antisemitism and the fear he instilled in British Jews.

The Prime Minister said: “I wish to pay tribute to [Mr Corbyn] for his service to party and country over the past five years in a very difficult job. We may not agree about everything, but no-one could doubt his sincerity or his determination to build a better society.”

It was deeply disappointing that Mr Johnson did not reference the terror felt by British Jews at the prospect of Mr Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, which, according to polls, could have led to half of the Jewish community in the UK fleeing the country.

Honorary Patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism and former Labour MP Ian Austin, who quit the Party in disgust at the growth of antisemitism under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, summarised the outgoing Labour leader’s legacy as “A party poisoned by racism. Jewish MPs driven out. The EHRC investigation….What a disgrace!”

Mr Austin was referencing the full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party launched on 28th May 2019 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.