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Jewish Labour MP Dame Louise Ellman to face no confidence motion on Yom Kippur

Dame Louise Ellman, the veteran Jewish Labour MP and chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), is expected to face a no confidence motion in the St Michael’s ward Labour branch of her Liverpool Riverside constituency on the evening of Yom Kippur, during the Kol Nidrei service.

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and is marked by most Jews with fasting and synagogue attendance. Communal organisations are shut and work or public engagements are generally discouraged.

The motion apparently follows coverage of her remarks at the LFI reception at Labour Party Conference in which she expressed sympathy with those Jews who have considered leaving the country over antisemitism, saying that she “understands why Jews would seriously consider leaving Britain if Corbyn became PM”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer has shown that 40% of British Jews have considered leaving the country due to antisemitism.

The motion reportedly says: “We have no confidence that our MP Louise Ellman will carry out the wishes of our Constituency Labour Party and our Riverside constituency or that she will follow Labour Party policy,” adding that “this branch therefore call[s] on our Riverside MP, Louise Ellman, to resign.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Jewish Voice for Labour co-chair to speak at “Stand up to racism” church event on Yom Kippur

Jenny Manson, the co-chair of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), is scheduled for a speaking engagement on Kol Nidrei, the night of Yom Kippur.

The event, titled “Resisting the rise of the racists and fascists”, will feature Ms Manson on a panel with Weyman Bennett, a member of the Socialist Workers Party’s central committee. The panel is part of a larger “West London stand up to racism” event at St Mary’s Church Hall in South Ealing on 8th October. It is anticipated that there will be debate on far-right extremism and antisemitism.

Although Ms Manson has previously admitted that JVL was founded in order “to tackle allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party”, she has reportedly been “hurt” by suggestions that question her Jewishness and the organisation has also stressed its Jewish credentials (including in its name). Some have suggested that this stance is somewhat undermined by undermined by Ms Manson’s decision to participate in a speaking engagement at a church on Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and is marked by most Jews with fasting and synagogue attendance. Communal organisations are shut and work or public engagements are generally discouraged.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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John Mann warns against risk of understating problem of antisemitism

The Government’s new antisemitism adviser has warned that between overstatement and understatement of antisemitism, “the biggest danger is that we will understate the problem.”

Speaking after his first public engagement in his new job, John Mann MP, who has resigned from the Labour Party and will become a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, explained that he accepted his new advisory role to prevent “good people, young people” from deciding to emigrate from the UK because of rising antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer has shown that 40% of British Jews have considered leaving the country due to antisemitism.

If action were not taken against antisemitism, he warned, “the reality will be that good people will leave. Not necessarily quickly — but good people will not see their future on the continent of Europe or on the UK because they are Jewish, and they wish for their identity to be proudly held at all times. We are not going to accept – and government is not going to accept — that impingement on civil liberties in this country.”

Observing the rise of antisemitism on university campuses, Mr Mann noted too the “pernicious, silent, isolating disdain” shown towards Jewish students “from hostile elements in their universities,” adding that he would be pushing for the adoption and application of the International Definition of Antisemitism by “our major institutions, football clubs, universities — this is achievable.”

Mr Mann also declared that “there will be consequences for the antisemites — whether they like it or not.” He insisted that “this is a battle for our country, this is a battle of our country and of our people. If we define our values – the things that make us British, then this is the number one battle. That we stand up against discrimination. That we do not allow the Jewish community to be attacked in the way it has been. And that when it is, we make sure that the perpetrators face the most robust consequences.”

It is understood that Mr Mann’s advisory role will last for five years.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism denounces SNP over reports it is open to backing Jeremy Corbyn as PM

It is being reported that the Scottish National Party (SNP) “has come round to the idea that Jeremy Corbyn may shortly have to become temporary caretaker prime minister.”

As the second largest opposition party in Parliament, the SNP yields considerable influence in determining who, if anyone, may succeed the sitting Prime Minister in the event of his resignation or a successful vote of no confidence.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has always been clear that Mr Corbyn’s record over the course of his political career and as leader of the Labour Party renders him entirely unfit to hold public office, and we, along with 85% of the Jewish community, have reached the conclusion that he is an antisemite. Under his leadership, the Labour Party has become institutionally antisemitic and is now under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, at the behest of Campaign Against Antisemitism. A Corbyn-led Government, however temporary, poses an existential threat to British Jewry.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, released the following statement: “With Jews already fearing for their future in Britain, every decent person should be horrified by reports that the SNP is preparing to install a racist as Prime Minister. Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite under whose leadership the Labour Party has become institutionally antisemitic. There is no situation of national crisis that can only be resolved by an anti-Jewish bigot. SNP MPs have spent considerable time this week complaining about divisive language but when it comes down to it they are abject hypocrites if they are content to betray British Jews and install an antisemitic extremist as Prime Minister in order to meet their political objectives.”

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Labour’s Dame Louise Ellman says she “understands” why Jews “would seriously consider” leaving UK if Corbyn becomes PM

The veteran Labour MP Dame Louise Ellman, who is Jewish, delivered a powerful attack on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over his record on antisemitism at a Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) reception the sidelines of the Labour Party Conference. LFI had opted not to host a stand at the Conference for fear of abuse to those manning the stand.

In her speech, Dame Louise condemned Mr Corbyn as someone “who would…label a propagator of the blood libel a ‘very honoured citizen’ and would peddle and endorse vile, trope-laden conspiracy theories,” and remarked, in a thinly-disguised reference to Mr Corbyn, that “too many claim to abhor racism ‘in all its forms’, while ignoring the racism against Jews which stalks party meetings, social media and the highest institutions of the party.”

She went on to ask: “what does it say about Jeremy Corbyn that he looks at a grossly antisemitic mural and apparently cannot see how grotesque and offensive it is; that he was active in an antisemitic Facebook group whose members discussed reading Mein Kampf, used the terms ‘ZioNazi’ and ‘JewNazi’ and discussed whether the BBC was controlled by Zionists, but, again, never seemed to see any of this; and that he was willing to take the pay of Press TV, the mouthpiece of a regime which denies the Holocaust and threatens to annihilate Israel — and even now refuses to apologise for having done so.

“What does it tell us about Jeremy Corbyn that he can describe the words of Hamas terrorists as ‘fascinating and electrifying’? Men who blew up families as they sat enjoying a meal in a pizza restaurant. Men who murdered Israeli teenagers as they excitedly waited to enter a club on a night out with friends. Men who butchered Holocaust survivors as they shared a Passover Seder.

“And what are we left to think when Jeremy Corbyn finds the time to lay wreaths at the graves of those who masterminded the torture and murder of Israeli athletes at Munich, but repeatedly refuses invitations to visit Yad Vashem — the museum and monument to the greatest crime in human history?”

Dame Louise expressed astonishment at the idea that the Labour Party could “find itself the object of an investigation by one of Labour’s proudest creations, the Equality and Human Rights Commission.” She was referencing the full statutory investigation launched by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 28th May, following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

Dame Louise also said, “I never believed we would see the day when many British Jews would so fear our leader, that they would seriously consider leaving the country if he entered Downing Street,” before insisting that “I not only understand those fears. I share those fears.”

“Yesterday,” she added, “on the conference floor, we saw a standing ovation given to a delegate who denied there was any antisemitism in the Labour Party. Not only that but a motion supporting boycotts was passed for the first time in Labour history. Let us be clear about what this means, the only country the Labour party calls to boycott is the world’s only Jewish state.”

“This,” Dame Louise lamented, “is not the party I joined.”

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Suspended Labour MP Chris Williamson says expelled Labour member Jackie Walker should be in Parliament

At a fringe event on the sidelines of the Labour Party Conference, the suspended MP, Chris Williamson, suggested that Jackie Walker should be in the House of Commons as an MP.

A reporter at an event hosted by Labour Against the Witchhunt, a group that was set up to protest the expulsion of Labour members for alleged antisemitism and that opposes “the false antisemitism smear”, quoted Mr Williamson as saying: “Jackie Walker should not only be in the Labour Party, she should be on the green benches in the House of Commons.”

Ms Walker, a former vice-chair of Momentum and one of those exemplifying the institutionalisation of antisemitism in the Labour Party, was repeatedly suspended by Labour and finally expelled earlier this year. She has persistently claimed that complaints of antisemitism are part of a plot to destabilise the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and has rejected the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Mr Williamson was suspended from Labour and then readmitted, only to be resuspended following a public outcry after claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Pro-Corbyn filmmaker Ken Loach claims “everyone knows Chris [Williamson] is not an antisemite”

The controversial filmmaker and longtime Labour supporter, Ken Loach, has complained to the Morning Star that “Tory supporters are more likely to hold antisemitic views than Labour supporters, but there is no mass demand for investigations into their Party.”

In his interview published on 24th September, Mr Loach conceded that “where there is evidence of antisemitism [in Labour] that has been properly scrutinised, that has been looked at in a proper, open hearing, if someone is found guilty, then appropriate sanctions should be taken,” but insisted that “this campaign [of antisemitism allegations in Labour] has not been about that.”

Mr Loach went on to contrast “individuals like Margaret Hodge…[who] indulge in revolting foul-mouthed abuse of the leader” with “an MP like Chris Williamson, where the evidence was heard and it was considered that [he] should remain in the party….And then it was overturned because of political pressure!…Everybody knows Chris is not an antisemite.”

Mr Williamson was suspended from Labour and then readmitted, only to be resuspended following a public outcry after claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.

Mr Loach’s voice has been among the loudest of those who attempt to dismiss Labour’s antisemitism crisis as non-existent and a right-wing smear campaign.

In 2017, Mr Loach caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. The International Definition of Antisemitism states that “denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)” is a manifestation of antisemitism.

Although Mr Loach later sought to clarify his remarks, he has continued to make inflammatory and provocative statements about Labour’s antisemitism scandal. While speaking at a meeting of the Kingswood Constituency Labour Party, Mr Loach advocated the removal from the Party of those Labour MPs, some of whom are Jewish, who have taken a principled stand against antisemitism. Shortly after that incident, the Labour Party announced that it would no longer use Mr Loach as a producer of their election broadcasts.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Tom Watson planned to attack Jeremy Corbyn’s record on antisemitism in axed Conference speech

The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, has disclosed that he was intending to attack Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s record on antisemitism in his Labour Party Conference speech, before it was cancelled due to events in Westminster.

Alluding to Mr Corbyn’s empty statements on the antisemitism crisis engulfing the Party, Mr Watson said: “In my speech I was going to say that it is not just about being anti-racist, even if you mean it. It’s no good just condemning something — it’s about actually doing something about it.”

Mr Watson went on to condemn the “sickening intimidation” of Jewish delegates at the Conference and the antisemitic banner positioned outside (which police eventually removed), and lamented that Labour had “a very long way to go” before it could restore “anything near trust with the Jewish community.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker tells BBC’s Politics Live that Corbyn has a problem with Jews and Commons will never put him in power

Erupting on BBC’s Politics Live programme, the Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker passionately insisted that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would not be appointed as Prime Minister by the MPs in the House of Commons forming a coalition headed by him.

“The House of Commons will never put Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10, that will never happen. Ever,” he asserted, going on to clarify: “It will never happen. Because we have brands as political parties. And you know why we’ll never put him there: because he has a fundamental problem with parts of our community who happen to be Jewish. And we will not put him in Number 10. It will never ever happen in this country. And Labour won’t let it happen either. And you know it. Ever.”

Sir Charles’ blunt remarks are a refreshing reminder of how seriously antisemitism is taken outside of the Labour Party.

Equally noteworthy was the revealing reaction from the Labour MP on the in-studio panel, Lisa Nandy, who did not dispute Sir Charles’ assessment of Mr Corbyn and his antisemitism, meekly mentioning only that it will be up to the people to determine Mr Corbyn’s political fate.

Ms Nandy also made an ambiguous remark about “tribal loyalties”, which, given her previous condemnations of Labour antisemitism, we hope was directed at political parties rather than, disgracefully, at the Jewish community. Nevertheless we would urge MPs to be careful in the language that they select so that misunderstandings do not arise.

Sir Charles finished by saying of Mr Corbyn that “he is not [a] fit or proper person to be in Number 10 with the views that he holds.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Rachel Riley cites Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Corbyn petition on Peston

The TV personality and activist, Rachel Riley, appeared on ITV’s Peston on Thursday and observed that over 55,000 people have signed Campaign Against Antisemitism’s petition denouncing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

Ms Riley was discussing her campaign to encourage users of social media not to engage with trolls, noting that when she began speaking out about antisemitism she became “subject to racist abuse”. Challenged by host Robert Peston when she labelled Mr Corbyn an “antisemite”, Ms Riley cited the petition, as well as a 2018 poll that showed that over 85% of British Jews regard the Labour leader as antisemitic.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

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Libel claims to be brought against Labour by former staffers over Party’s response to BBC Panorama investigation

Five of the whistleblowers who appeared on the BBC’s Panorama investigation into the handling of antisemitism complaints by the Labour Party are intending to bring libel cases against the Party, it is understood.

The claims relate to an episode of Panorama, the BBC’s flagship investigative documentary programme, titled “Is Labour Anti-Semitic?”, which was televised in July. Over the course of the programme, former Labour Party employees spoke out publicly to reveal Jeremy Corbyn’s personal meddling in disciplinary cases relating to antisemitism. The programme explained how senior Labour Party staffers, some of whom Campaign Against Antisemitism has known for years, used to run Labour’s disciplinary process independently, but soon after Mr Corbyn’s election as Party leader found themselves contending with his most senior aides, who were brazen in their efforts to subvert due process.

The programme was peppered with unconvincing denials from Labour’s press team, including claims that the staffers had political axes to grind and lacked credibility — assertions that apparently may now be challenged in court.

The libel cases are being brought by Mark Lewis, a highly esteemed media lawyer who is also an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the annual report prepared by Labour’s National Constitutional Committee that usually contains the names of individuals being investigated, their constituency party, the rule alleged to have been breached and the result of the investigation, has now been anonymised, making it harder to identify antisemitism cases and track their progress. The Party blames data protection rules for the change.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Two antisemitism cartoons too risky for The Guardian raffled off as prizes at Labour fringe event

An attendee at the Labour Representation Committee event on Monday featuring Jackie Walker and Chris Williamson MP reports that the raffle prize was a signed copy of two Steve Bell cartoons that The Guardian refused to publish apparently because they were feared to be potentially antisemitic.

The Labour Representation Committee is a pro-Corbyn pressure group which has a long history of belittling claims of antisemitism and publishing extremely disturbing articles. The president of the organisation is the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell.

Ms Walker, a former vice-chair of Momentum and one of those exemplifying the institutionalisation of antisemitism in the Labour Party, was repeatedly suspended by Labour and finally expelled earlier this year. She has persistently claimed that complaints of antisemitism are part of a plot to destabilise the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and has rejected the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Mr Williamson, was suspended from Labour and then readmitted, only to be resuspended following a public outcry after claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.

The attendee also reported that Laura Alvarez, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s wife, was also in attendance at the event.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Israel is a “racist endeavour”: just another day at the Labour Party Conference

Prof. Moshe Machover, the Labour activist and Holocaust revisionist who was expelled from the Party before being readmitted, was seen distributing pamphlets at Labour Party Conference comparing Israel to the Nazis, claiming that it is a “well established fact” that “Israel is a racist state”, describing the Jewish State a “racist endeavour” and calling for the “de-Zionisation of Israel”.

The statements are a clear breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism, which lists as examples of antisemitism the claim that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour and the drawing of comparisons between contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

Prof. Machover has a history, like Ken Livingstone (with whom he publicly sympathises), of seeking to distort the history of the Jews under Adolf Hitler in order to characterise Zionists as cooperative partners of Nazism and imply that the Nazis were well disposed towards Zionists at the time.

Elsewhere at Labour Party Conference, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was confronted by two Labour members questioning why he had attended a Jewish Labour Movement event, castigating him for fraternising with “Zionists” and “Israeli Zionists” who only sought to destabilise Labour and undermine Mr Corbyn. They suggested that he should have attended the Jewish Voice for Labour event instead, at which point Mr Khan reportedly ended the conversation amid accusations that he was being aggressive and rude.

Meanwhile, it emerged that in 2002 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had put his name to a far-left document called the “Cairo Declaration” that accused Israel of implementing apartheid and carrying out a genocide, called for a boycott of the Jewish State and appeared to back violence.

This followed the revelation that Mr Corbyn spoke at a 2009 march in Birmingham where Israel was likened to the Nazis, a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. Banners depicted the Star of David as a swastika and showed messages saying “History repeats itself – stop the genocide”, while Gaza was likened to a concentration camp and Israel was accused of being “thirsty for blood” and “child killers”, an allusion to the centuries-old blood libel against the Jews.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour Party Conference erupts into standing ovation as JVL member claims she has never witnessed antisemitism in the Party

Despite all the evidence of antisemitism in the Labour Party, including during its Party Conference, Labour members gave a rapturous standing ovation to a speaker who told the assembled plenary that she has never witnessed antisemitism in the Party, denied it is a problem and insisted that Jeremy Corbyn is the “most anti-racist leader this Party has ever had”.

The speaker was Vanessa Stilwell, a member of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish organisation. Ms Stilwell is the wife of Glyn Secker, who is the Secretary of JVL. Mr Secker has said that Jewish organisations are “in the gutter” and “part of the problem”, and proposed a motion against measures to expel antisemites despite his record, which included a five-day period of suspension from the Party over antisemitism allegations.

The reaction of the audience reveals the depth of Labour’s antisemitism crisis and illustrates why the Party has utterly failed to tackle Jew-hatred. It is yet more evidence of the institutional antisemitism of the Labour Party.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Leaflets claiming Labour antisemitism is “fake” distributed at Party Conference by member suspended for saying Holocaust was exaggerated

Leaflets have been distributed at the Labour Party Conference asserting that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have been “falsely” attacked as antisemitic, that the Labour antisemitism crisis is “fake” and that the statutory investigation opened by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) concerns “fake antisemitism”.

The EHRC investigation was launched on 28th May following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

The leaflets bear the branding of Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR) and depict a laser shattering the logo of the Jewish Labour Movement.

LAZIR is chaired by Pete Gregson, a Labour member from Scotland who was expelled from Momentum and from the GMB trade union and suspended from the Party after suggesting that the Holocaust was exaggerated and for abusive behaviour towards a female Jewish Labour member. It does not appear, however, that Mr Gregson has been expelled from Labour. Mr Gregson founded LAZIR during his suspension. It is unclear why Mr Gregson has been permitted to attend the Party Conference.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Antisemitism is the “canary in the coalmine of global hatred,” says UN Special Rapporteur as he delivers groundbreaking report on combating Jew-hatred

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief has said that antisemitism is the “canary in the coalmine of global hatred” and “toxic to democracy” as he delivered his groundbreaking report titled Combatting Antisemitism to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief.

Ahmed Shaheed’s comments echoed those of UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who has previously remarked that “antisemitism is not a problem for the Jewish community alone” but rather threatens “all people’s human rights” and that “where there is antisemitism, there are likely to be other discriminatory ideologies and forms of bias.”

According to one UN watcher, the report marks one of the first times the UN has addressed the issue of antisemitism in any detail.

Unusually for a UN document on the subject, the report recognises antisemitism as a global – rather than merely Western – phenomenon, and observes that it emanates from the far-right, radical Islam and the far-left.

The report notes “an apparent surge in hate motivated by religious animus worldwide, hostility, discrimination and violence motivated by antisemitism.” It even states that it is a problem at the highest echelons of governments, claiming that it is “prevalent, tolerated, or even propagated by state officials”.

It goes on to say this has created a “climate of fear” among many Jews.

While the report notes that significant measures have been taken in Western Europe and the Americas to protect Jews, successful measures to prevent antisemitism online have been “elusive”. It goes on to say antisemitism on the internet is incredibly prevalent and there has been a “resurgence of classic antisemitism in online chatter”.

The report states that “reports of hostility, discrimination and violence motivated by antisemitism have increased in many parts of the world” and that antisemitic attitudes are common. It reports that “studies also demonstrate that anxiety is high among Jewish communities in numerous jurisdictions.”

Despite these alarming findings, the report observes that this trend “has received scant attention as a human rights issue.”

In fact, antisemitic harassment is “significantly underreported” and may be even worse than feared. The report insists that greater communication is needed between civil society entities, Jewish organisations and UN human rights monitors in order to get a firm grip on the problem.

It suggests that better data collection systems are needed as well as accessible and confidential mechanisms for reporting incidents.

Mr. Shaheed asserts that the best way to combat this global problem is a multifaceted, human rights-based approach focused on education. The report urges states to invest in education and training so that citizens have a better understanding of antisemitism and to develop democracies “resilient” to hateful ideologies.

It goes on to say that antisemitism should be combated with counterspeech and education first, rather than more restrictive measures, and it insists that there is an active role for citizens to play, for example in interfaith networks to promote understanding.

The report ends by underscoring the importance for states to take urgent action to address antisemitism. It makes multiple recommendations, with a focus on education within a wider human rights framework.

The report insists that responsibility rests with states and urges acknowledgement of the threat to stability posed by antisemitism. It also presses for the enforcement of existing legislation and acknowledges the helpfulness of the International Definition of Antisemitism in identifying offences.

The British Government was the first in the world to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, following discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism and Lord Pickles. Other national governments and public bodies have followed.

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Labour has no antisemitism problem according to two-thirds of Party members in new poll

A poll of the Labour grassroots has revealed that 66 percent of members believe that the Party does not have a problem with antisemitism, with only 23 percent acknowledging that it does. Ten percent said that they do not know.

As to the causes of Labour’s antisemitism crisis, 37 percent blame opponents of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and seventeen percent fault the media. 29 percent point the finger at a small minority of members with antisemitic views and only thirteen percent implicate the Labour Party leadership.

In addition, the poll found that 56 percent of Labour members would oppose post-Brexit trade deals with Israel. Only 31 percent supported a trade deal with the Jewish State.

The poll was carried out by Mainstream, a new organisation founded by Ian Austin, the MP for Dudley North who resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism. Mr Austin is an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Mainstream describes itself as “a new campaign – led by a group of people from different political backgrounds – designed to encourage a return to respectable and responsible politics, and to banish extremism from British politics once and for all.” It is understood that other figures associated with the new organisation include Rachel Riley, the TV presenter and activist; the Rt Hon. the Lord Pickles, the Conervative peer and the Government’s Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues; and Sir Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These poll results underscore just how severe Labour’s antisemitic crisis has become, with the overwhelming majority of its members blind to the facts that the Party is institutionally antisemitic and that Jeremy Corbyn has played a pivotal role in cultivating an environment for antisemitism to thrive. Labour’s antisemitism crisis cannot be solved by those who created it.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Emergency motion against Labour’s proposed changes to disciplinary rules on antisemitism was put forward by member previously suspended over antisemitism allegations

It has emerged that the figure behind an emergency motion at the Labour Party Conference against controversial new disciplinary rules on antisemitism previously said that Jewish organisations are “in the gutter” and “part of the problem” and was himself suspended from the Party.

Glyn Secker, the Secretary of the antisemitism-denial group and sham organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour, was previously suspended from the West Dulwich and Norwood Labour Party, but his suspension was lifted and he was able to attend the Party Conference and propose a motion as a member of the Lambeth and Southwark Unite Community union branch.

Under the proposed rules that Mr Secker opposes, panels of Labour’s National Executive Committee would have the power to expel members in disciplinary cases, particularly over antisemitism, whereas currently only the Party’s National Constitutional Committee can do so.

It is extraordinary that a Labour member previously suspended over antisemitism allegations has been able to propose a motion relating to antisemitism despite his record. This is yet another reminder of Labour’s institutional antisemitism and the total failure of its leadership to tackle the problem.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Antisemitic banner outside Labour Party Conference eventually removed by police

An antisemitic poster outside Labour Party Conference was allowed to remain by police before officers changed their mind and removed it.

The poster — which was not officially connected to the Labour Party — depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu piloting a fighter jet labelled “the lobby” and yelling “antisemite! antisemite! antisemite!” at Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is standing at a podium labelled “Palestinian rights”. The fighter jet is shown having fired a missile labelled “defamation” at Mr Corbyn. The implication of the poster is that the Israeli Government or the ‘Israel lobby’ — portrayed in a militaristic fashion — has weaponised antisemitism and is behind defamatory accusations of antisemitism against the Labour leader, and that Israel wields significant power over British political affairs.

The poster’s caption referenced the International Definition of Antisemitism, also known as IHRA, reading: “IHRA: Tell the NEC how you feel.” The NEC is Labour’s National Executive Committee, and the message of the poster is in opposition to the reluctant adoption of the International Definition by the Labour Party.

It has also been suggested that the image in the poster was drawn by Carlos Latuff, an artist who placed second in Iran’s Holocaust Denial Cartoon Contest.

At first, police declined to remove the poster despite complaints, but after the Labour Party itself condemned the “antisemitic banner” and requested its removal, the police took it down. Even Mr Corbyn audaciously tweeted: “I’m disgusted that this banner was displayed near our #Lab19 conference centre. We asked the police to remove it and I’m glad they did. This kind of antisemitic poison has no place whatsoever in our society.”

The poster was made and put up by Peter Gregson, a Labour member from Scotland who was expelled from Momentum and from the GMB trade union and suspended from the Party after suggesting that the Holocaust was exaggerated and for abusive behaviour towards a female Jewish Labour member. It does not appear, however, that Mr Gregson has been expelled from Labour. Mr Gregson founded Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism during his suspension. It is unclear why Mr Gregson has been permitted to attend the Party Conference.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “It is not surprising that a poster claiming that Labour’s antisemitism crisis is an Israeli plot should appear outside Labour Party Conference, but it is disappointing that it took so long for it to be removed, despite complaints from passersby. The reaction of the Labour Party is telling: it pays lip service to tackling antisemitism without asking why it attracts the purveyors of images such as these in the first place. Tweets from Jeremy Corbyn are not enough to reverse the institutional antisemitism that he has cultivated in his Party.”

More troubling still is that images such as these are standard fare on social media platforms and are used particularly by anonymous users. While they might be removed from the streets, on social media they are allowed to endure with no sanction.”

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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JVL’s Mike Cushman says Labour antisemitism is a “lie” from Mossad and British security services

Mike Cushman, a member of antisemitism denial groups Jewish Voice for Labour and Labour Against The Witchhunt, has claimed that he has never observed antisemitism in the Labour Party and that the evidence on which antisemitism allegations are based emanates either from the Israeli Mossad or British security services, which he insists oppose the election of a Labour government.

The claims were made at a 19th September screening in Brixton of the film, Witchhunt, which disputes the degree of antisemitism in the Labour Party, hosted by expelled Labour member and former Vice-Chair of the pro-Corbyn group Momentum, Jackie Walker.

In his remarks, Mr Cushman said: “I’m not saying that antisemitism doesn’t exist in the Labour Party, but I’ve never seen it — I’ve never experienced it. I’ve seen anti-black racism; I’ve seen islamophobia; I’ve seen misogyny; I’ve seen homophobia; I’ve seen many awful things, but personally I’ve never observed antisemitism.”

He went on to explain that “when the allegations of people like Louise Ellman [a Jewish Labour MP] and Luciana Berger [a Jewish MP who resigned from the Labour Party] are examined properly, they fall apart as a tissue of lies. I cannot emphasise enough just how much lying and falsehood is going on in making these allegations.”

Complaining that criticism of Israel and talking about Zionism are interpreted as antisemitism, and that even telling an MP “they’re just no bloody use as an MP” is also interpreted as antisemitism, Mr Cushman concluded that the twin motivations behind those exposing antisemitism in the Labour Party are “to stop us talking about Palestine” and “to stop us getting a socialist Labour government elected.”

Turning to the evidence for the antisemitism allegations, he explained that “you do not find this stuff by human trawling of the internet — you need high grade artificial intelligence services to get this. Now, I have always assumed that this was being done from Tel Aviv by Mossad and other security services. I am not saying they are not doing it, but I’ve seen some suggestion — and I think they’re very compelling suggestions — that a lot of this is actually coming from the British Security Services.”

Mr Cushman’s wilful blindness to antisemitism in the Labour Party and his conspiratorial ramblings are sadly what we have come to expect from a member of Jewish Voice for Labour, which is a sham organisation which, by the admission of its chair, was founded in order “to tackle allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party”, and of Labour Against The Witchhunt, which is a group that was set up to protest the expulsion of Labour members for alleged antisemitism and that opposes “the false antisemitism smear”.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour invited congresswoman Ilhan Omar as well as BDS chief Omar Barghouti to address Party Conference

The Labour Party reportedly invited Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Party congresswoman from the United States who has repeatedly courted controversy over antisemitic tweets and statements for which she has not fully apologised, to speak at their Party Conference.

Ms Omar has tweeted that Israel “hypnotises” the world and suggested that American lawmakers’ support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins”, a reference to the $100 bill, which is adorned with the picture of Benjamin Franklin, and an allusion to supposed Jewish financial clout. She has also spoken of people “push[ing] for allegiance to a foreign country,” a statement redolent of dual loyalty charges made against Jews.

Ms Omar reportedly declined the invitation to attend the Party Conference.

Also invited was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another controversial US congresswoman, who back in February spoke to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on the telephone, for which she subsequently apologised after being made aware of his and Labour’s antisemitism. Ms Ocasio-Cortez also declined the invitation, citing commitments in the United States. The Labour Party noted that Congress is currently in session, which may make travel difficult for legislators.

Another controversial speaker, Omar Barghouti, one of the founders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, who rejects Israel as a Jewish State, was invited to speak, but reportedly has been unable to obtain an entry visa to the UK.

Reacting to these invitations, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These invitations appear to be yet another example of the Labour Party baiting the Jewish community. Each year, the Party seems determined to use its conference to underscore that Labour is institutionally antisemitic.”

Meanwhile, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Richard Burgon, who has stated that “Zionism is the enemy of peace” and then lied about having done so, is slated to appear on a panel with lawyer Salma Karmi-Ayyoub, who has criticised the International Definition of Antisemitism, described the debate around the International Definition as “toxic”, and has called Israel a “racist regime.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Ilford Momentum disinvites guest of honour conspiracy theorist Rev. Stephen Sizer, claiming they did not know his views

Disgraced conspiracy theorist Rev. Dr Stephen Sizer, who claimed that an Israeli conspiracy was behind 9/11, was due to speak at a “Charity Dinner for Gaza” on 3rd October organised by Ilford Momentum, before the hosts withdrew the invitation following an outcry.

Upon being made aware of Rev. Dr Sizer’s views and record, the organisation announced that “we weren’t aware of Stephen Sizer’s past comments. After having been made aware of them this morning we rescinded his invitation and cancelled the charity fundraiser within minutes…We deeply regret not checking the history of the speaker prior to promoting the event online,” adding that “we strongly oppose the harmful conspiracies spread by Stephen Sizer and antisemitism in all its forms. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused.”

The original invitation to the dinner presented praise for Rev. Dr Sizer by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: “I do admire the excellent work that he does and personally.” This is not the first time Mr Corbyn has been associated with Rev. Dr Sizer. In February 2015, the reverend was ordered by the Church of England to stop using social media after posting the conspiracy myth that Israel planned 9/11. While the Church said the material that Rev. Dr Sizer posted was “clearly antisemitic”, the Daily Mail revealed that Mr Corbyn wrote to the Church defending Rev. Dr Sizer, saying that he was being victimised because he “dared to speak out against Zionism.”

Momentum is an influential grassroots organisation that supports Mr Corbyn and his wing of the Labour Party. Numerous controversial individuals have been associated with it, including Jackie Walker, a former Vice Chair who rejected the International Definition of Antisemitism before eventually being expelled from the Labour Party.

Campaign Against Antisemitism notes that Momentum has played an important role in the institutionalisation of antisemitism in the Labour Party. We struggle to believe that they did not know the views of their guest of honour, which are readily apparent from a simple internet search.

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Debate on Labour’s controversial new disciplinary rules on antisemitism timed for Jewish sabbath when observant Jews cannot participate

The Labour Party has timed a debate on proposed new disciplinary procedures for antisemitism complaints at its annual conference for the Jewish sabbath, Shabbat, when religiously observant Jews will be unable to participate.

The Party has also failed to consult the Jewish community or even its own Jewish affiliate over the proposals.

Under the proposed rules, panels of Labour’s National Executive Committee would have the power to expel members in disciplinary cases, particularly over antisemitism, whereas currently only the Party’s National Constitutional Committee can do so.

Although Labour claims that this will speed up the expulsion process, what it in fact does is to put the decision in the hands of allies of the Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, under whose leadership Labour has become institutionally antisemitic. Rather than helping to alleviate the Party’s antisemitism crisis, there is every reason to expect that the new rules would exacerbate the problem yet further.

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Scheduling an important debate on disciplining antisemitism in the Labour Party on a day when many Jews will be excluded from participation can only be the product of gross ignorance of Jewish practice or a wilful intention to mute opposition to a counterproductive proposal. The new rules will do nothing to regain the trust of the Jewish community in an institutionally antisemitic party.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

UPDATE: The vote on the new rules was carried.

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Labour Friends of Israel to skip own party conference over antisemitism fears

Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), the parliamentary faction that promotes Israel within the Labour Party, has announced that unlike in previous years it would not be hosting a stand at the party conference next week because of fears of antisemitic abuse.

In a statement, LFI cited “the failure of Jeremy Corbyn to do anything” to curb “the ongoing abuse of Jewish party members”, and explained that “our staff have faced incidents of antisemitism in previous years and, given that the situation appears to have further deteriorated, we do not feel it is responsible as an employer to put them in this environment.”

This follows last year’s Party conference, when Luciana Berger, then a Labour MP, had to be escorted by the police for her safety.

Not only has Labour utterly failed to tackle antisemitism within the Party, but even those members and parliamentarians who are Jewish or associated in some way with Judaism or Israel do not feel assured of their own safety at the Party’s flagship event, the implication being that Labour has quite literally become an unsafe space for Jews.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Chuka Umunna blasts Corbyn on antisemitism and failing to support the ban on Hizballah

In a barnstorming speech at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference, Chuka Umunna, an MP who left Labour for reasons including antisemitism and recently joined the Liberal Democrats, shared his thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn.

“The Labour Party likes to think of itself as a champion of liberal values at home and abroad,” Mr Umunna said, before lamenting that Labour is in fact no longer “the party of [Clement] Atlee and [Ernest] Bevin: this is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.”

Mr Umunna warned Labour that “you cannot be a champion of liberalism if you are currently subject to a formal investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission for institutional racism against Jewish people.” He was referencing the full statutory investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which was launched on 28th May following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

Mr Umunna went on to criticise Mr Corbyn for “lauding authoritarian regimes in Venezuela and Iran [and] failing to support the proscription of Hizballah as a terrorist organisation.” Hizballah was banned in the UK earlier this year following years of campaigning by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, used the occasion of her party’s conference to rule out once more the possibility of backing a government led by Mr Corbyn after a general election, including not only a formal coalition but even a more informal arrangement, such a confidence-and-supply agreement. She accused Mr Corbyn of having “failed to tackle antisemitism in his own party”, adding that he is “totally, totally failing” to eliminate antisemitism from Labour.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour conference fringe events to feature individuals suspended or expelled from Party over antisemitism

Next week’s Labour Party Conference Fringe in Brighton includes events hosted by groups that claim that the Party’s antisemitism crisis is a smear and featuring speakers who have been suspended or expelled from the Party over antisemitism.

On 24th September at 19:00, Labour Against the Witchhunt, a group that was set up to protest the expulsion of Labour members for alleged antisemitism and that opposes “the false antisemitism smear”, is hosting a public meeting with Ken Livingstone and Asa Winstanley.

Mr Livingstone was suspended from the Labour Party over antisemitism and eventually resigned from the Party in 2018 during a two-year investigative process that was never concluded. He went on to dismiss Labour’s antisemitism crisis as “lies and smears” manufactured by an “elite” wishing to protect their “tax-dodging in the Cayman Islands”. Mr Winstanley, meanwhile, has called the Jewish Labour Movement an “Israeli Embassy proxy” and was reportedly suspended from Labour in March, pending an investigation.

The Labour Representation Committee, a pro-Corbyn pressure group which has a long history of belittling claims of antisemitism and publishing extremely disturbing articles, is reportedly hosting an event with Chris Williamson MP and Jackie Walker. The president of the organisation is the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell.

Mr Williamson, was suspended from Labour and then readmitted, only to be resuspended following a public outcry after claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.

Ms Walker, a former vice-chair of Momentum and one of those exemplifying the institutionalisation of antisemitism in the Labour Party, was repeatedly suspended by Labour and finally expelled earlier this year. She has persistently claimed that complaints of antisemitism are part of a plot to destabilise the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and has rejected the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Jewish Voice for Labour, a sham organisation which, by the admission of its chair, was founded in order “to tackle allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party”, is also hosting an event on Israel featuring highly controversial speakers.

That the Labour Party continues to attract these figures and their following shows that its failure to address antisemitism is registered not only by those fighting antisemitism but also by those instigating and defending it.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Presiding Officer of Scottish Parliament says Labour “unwilling” to deal with antisemitism

The presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood has claimed that the Labour Party is “unwilling” to deal with antisemitism.

Ken Macintosh, who used to be the Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party MSP for Eastwood before being returned on the regional list in 2016, suspended his membership of the Party upon his election as presiding officer in 2016, as is customary.

In a meeting with local Jewish community leaders, Mr Macintosh described the rise in antisemitism as “perplexing, disturbing, and extremely worrying”, revealing that “it’s upsetting that my former party seems unable or unwilling to face up to or deal with antisemitism.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Communities Secretary says antisemitism is a “stain on our society” and announces funding to tackle anti-Jewish hate online

Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, gave a powerful speech over the weekend expressing his concern over the rise of antisemitism in the UK, describing “the scourge of antisemitism” as “a stain on our society” and announcing £100,000 to “tackle the spread of antisemitic material on social media.”

Mr Jenrick declared that “there is no place for antisemitic abuse” and regretted that others, including local councils and universities, have not followed the UK Government in adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism. Noting that “we have seen [antisemitism] take hold in and corrupt our institutions,” he indicated that he was taking action to encourage the wider adoption of the definition.

Condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets the Jewish State alone, Mr Jenrick observed that some figures “in prominent positions in public life cannot distinguish between legitimate criticism of the policies of a democratically-elected government and blatant antisemitism.”

Mr Jenrick also blasted the trend of “replacing the word ‘Jew’ for ‘Zionist’ when pedalling vile and offensive views” and expressed concern regarding “the disgraceful experiences that Jewish students have lived through at certain universities,” including two hundred students voting against the establishment of a new Jewish Society at one university.

Turning to Hizballah, Mr Jenrick added that earlier this year the Government proscribed the “antisemitic Hizballah terror group in full”, noting that “the untenable distinction between a military and a political wing was dropped,” which was the result of years of campaigning by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. “It gives me great comfort,” he said, “that the Hizballah flag, emblazoned with an automatic rifle, will no longer be flown with impunity on the streets of London or the UK.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes Mr Jenrick’s commitment to combating antisemitism, including in local politics, on university campuses and online, and the Government’s continued solidarity with the Jewish community in the face of Labour’s antisemitism crisis.

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Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson says it’s “impossible” for her to work with Corbyn “in any sort of arrangement” due to antisemitism

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has assured her party’s newest MP that it would be “impossible” for her to work with the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, “in any sort of arrangement.”

Jo Swinson reportedly made the pledge to Luciana Berger, saying she “would not enter any coalition with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister” or support any government led by him in any way, in part due to Mr Corbyn’s failure to address antisemitism in his party.

Ms Berger left the Labour Party earlier this year over antisemitism, and citing her refusal to be complicit in a Labour election victory that might put Mr Corbyn in Downing Street. She has now joined the Liberal Democrats.

The assurance from Ms Swinson echoes her earlier pledge during her party leadership campaign not to prop up a Corbyn-led government, in part due to his handling of antisemitism within the Labour Party. Delivering her promise to Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, Ms Swinson explained that, in addition to their disagreement on political questions, “Corbyn[’s]…inability, at best, to act on antisemitism within his party would make it impossible for me to work with him on a personal level in any sort of arrangement.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon attended rally with activists suspended over comments about Jews and Israel

The Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Richard Burgon MP, reportedly participated in a “Standing with Corbyn” rally in Brighton on Monday along with numerous activists who have been suspended by the Party over their comments about Jews and Israel.

In addition to Mr Burgon, who has stated that “Zionism is the enemy of peace” and then lied about having done so, other prominent activists to appear at the rally included Lara McNeil, who represents Young Labour on Labour’s National Executive Committee, and Liam Young, an activist running for the London Assembly.

According to political website Guido Fawkes, participants in the rally included:

  • Daniel Harris, who was reportedly suspended from Labour after posting a video of councillors who had stood up to antisemitism adorned with Jewish prayer shawls and skullcaps;
  • Alex Braithwaite, who was suspended from the Party over a series of tweets which included conspiracy theories about Israel and the Rothschild family, as well as dismissing Labour antisemitism as a smear;
  • Anne Mitchell, who was reportedly suspended from the Party over allegedly antisemitic posts; and
  • Mel Melvin, who left the Labour Party (which has not disclosed whether she was expelled or suspended) over tweets claiming that Israel faked a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad against his own people.

In case any further evidence were needed that the Labour Party’s disciplinary process is entirely unfit for purpose, even those who are removed from the Party over antisemitism are apparently still able to participate in its activities. Even more appallingly, senior figures in the Party are evidently happy to associate with them. Clearly, Labour’s leadership cannot be trusted to address the antisemitism crisis, which cannot be solved by those who created it.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Ian Austin MP launches blistering attack on “extremist” Corbyn for “working with and defending antisemites”, joined by Ivan Lewis MP

Ian Austin MP, who resigned from Labour in protest at antisemitism within the Party earlier this year, delivered a passionate indictment of the Labour leadership in a speech in Parliament yesterday, branding Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party’s leadership “extremists”.

Standing amongst Labour MPs on the opposition benches, Mr Austin said: “I left the Labour party to shine a spotlight on the disgrace it’s become under his [Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s] leadership…I regard myself as proper, decent traditional Labour, not like the extremists who have taken over this Party and are dragging it into the mud…These are people [Mr Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell] who spent their entire time in politics working with [and] defending all sorts of extremists, and in some cases terrorists and antisemites…They always back the wrong side, whether it’s the IRA, Hamas and Hizballah, whom they describe as ‘friends’.”

As Labour MPs heckled him and told him to stop sitting with them, Mr Austin continued: “No previous Labour leadership would have allowed a Party with a proud history of fighting racial prejudice to have been poisoned by racism, which is what’s happened under these people — racism against Jewish people, to the extent that members have been arrested on suspicion of racial hatred, that the Party itself has become the first in history to be investigated under equalities laws by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These people, and the people around them, are a million miles away from the traditional, mainstream, decent politics of the Labour Party. They have poisoned what was once a great party with extremism. They cannot be trusted with the institutions that underpin our democracy. They are completely unfit to lead the Labour Party, let alone our country.”

Mr Austin was joined by another former Labour MP, Ivan Lewis, who also resigned the Labour Party whip over antisemitism. Mr Lewis added his condemnation of Mr Corbyn, saying: “He does not have the leadership skills required at a time of so many challenges facing our country, and his leadership has led to the party of anti-racism and equality becoming the party of institutionalised antisemitism, so much so that a majority of Jews in this country feel that they would not be safe in the event of his becoming Prime Minister.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends Mr Austin, who is an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism, and Mr Lewis, for their righteous condemnation of the Labour leadership, which now presides over an institutionally antisemitic party. The Labour Party cannot be a force for good whilst it is in the hands of Mr Corbyn and those around him.

On 28th May, the EHRC launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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John Mann quits as Labour MP after 18 years, accusing Corbyn of giving “green light to the antisemites”

Veteran Labour MP John Mann has announced that he is quitting as a Labour MP in disgust over antisemitism in the Party. He will not stand for reelection to the House of Commons at the next election after 18 years on the Labour benches as the MP for Bassetlaw. Instead, he will take up a full-time post as an adviser on antisemitism to the Government.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Mann was scathing about the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, saying: “The party will not survive the erosion of its principles and its soul by this racist infiltration. Corbyn has given the green light to the antisemites and having done so has sat there and done nothing to turn that round.” On that basis, he said that Mr Corbyn is not “appropriate to be Prime Minister”.

He added: “Every time I go into a meeting with a group of Jewish people, I wince when they raise the issue of the Labour Party and Corbyn. It is impossible to overstate the anger that I have about that…He has not just hijacked my political party; he has hijacked its soul and its ethics. I will never forgive him for that.”

Mr Mann once claimed that Campaign Against Antisemitism “sensationalised” antisemitism when we first began to sound the alarm that British Jews were questioning their future in the UK, but as he has become increasingly exposed to the problem, he has come to accept that we were right, telling the Sunday Times: “The mass growth of antisemitism is driving many Jewish people to question whether they have a future in this country. There are people I have known for most of my life who are leaving the country because they don’t think this is a safe haven for them. People don’t talk about it but there is a feeling that people didn’t flee fast enough before and they don’t want to take any risks. This is the country that more than any other stood up to the Nazis, so the idea that it isn’t a safe haven for Jewish people contradicts everything from the war effort.”

In his new role based at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Mr Mann says that he will “hold internet companies, universities and others better to account and every single political party bar none”. He explained: “My one aim in this role is to turn around that situation so that Jewish teenagers know that their future is safe in this country if they wish it to be, and that there will be no impingement in any way on them and their freedoms — be it the universities they chose, the job they chose to go into, where they live, what they wear or how they live, which is a big bold objective.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends Mr Mann for his longstanding support for the Jewish community and outspoken stance against antisemitism in the Labour Party. It shames the Labour Party that one of its longstanding MPs is now leaving the House of Commons, in addition to the eleven MPs and three peers who have resigned from the Party over antisemitism in recent months, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour member who described concerns over Labour antisemitism as “bourgeois lies and propaganda” expelled from Party

An activist has been expelled from the Labour Party for sending antisemitic messages on social media using the Twitter handle “@CorbynBoy” and minimising the antisemitism crisis engulfing the Party.

Ian Humphries, until recently a member of the East Devon Constituency Labour Party, sent messages accusing the Labour MP Jess Phillips of having taken £1 million from the “Israeli lobby”. He also asked another MP, Luciana Berger, who left the Labour Party over antisemitism, “do you agree in killing all the PALISTINIONS [sic]?” adding, “It’s a simple answer — yes or no? If you don’t reply I will take this as a yes…you agree with Palistine [sic] genocide by the Israeli government.”

Mr Humphries is also alleged to have written that the “BBC is run by the Conservative Party and the Israel lobby” and that “Tories just keep giving away money to the rich, as just to keep Murdoch and the Rothschilds happy [sic].”

Ms Phillips reported that in his messages Mr Humphries said that allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party were “bourgeois lies and propaganda”. She said that his messages constituted “very clear antisemitism”.

Last year Ms Humphries signed a letter in the Dorset Eye calling on the Labour Party not to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism.

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

In recent months, eleven MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Sara Conway, Labour candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, says she did not mean to say antisemitism is being “weaponised”

The Labour Party’s parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green has said she did not mean to claim that antisemitism has been “whipped up” and “weaponised by certain media commentators”. Instead, she claims that she just meant that the “far-right” has “weaponised” antisemitism.

Sara Conway, who is currently a Labour councillor in Barnet representing Burnt Oak, had said that she was “not trying to dismiss or push back on anything at all but I think there has been an element…of the press and right-wing commentators that has drummed this up to such a level that it then becomes, if you look on Twitter, an endless back and forth that doesn’t work”.

Ms Conway noted that the Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party, which was opened following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

However Ms Conway has now sought to clarify her language, tweeting: “I used the wrong word by saying weaponised. I was referring to far-right commentators particularly on Twitter who use this issue as a political football to create polarisation and division. Antisemitism is a very real problem and I was in no way referring those of us fighting it.”

Claiming that antisemitism allegations in the Labour Party have been “weaponised” or are a “political football” diminishes the seriousness of the problem instead of elevating it to an issue that should concern everyone. Instead of fulsomely acknowledging that her party is infested with Jew-hatred and has failed to deal with it over the course of years, she has sought to cast this as a partisan matter.

In recent months, eleven MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks calls Labour antisemitism “a genuine stain on the fabric of British political life”

In a wide-ranging interview in The Sunday Times, the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, has described antisemitism within the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to address it as “a genuine stain on the fabric of British political life.”

Lamenting that “when I see antisemitism returning to Europe and the failure of some parties and politicians to confront it, I find it very difficult to find faith in human beings,” Rabbi Sacks also declared that he stands by his previous comments about Labour, including describing Mr Corbyn as an “antisemite”.

Rabbi Sacks explained: “I think some of the antisemitism was hidden and it’s simply become liberated from the constraints of various taboos”. He went on to express disgust at how antisemitism in the Labour Party has been allowed to fester: “To find something as manifestly evil as antisemitism and not deal with it? Jews must not be left to fight antisemitism alone.”

Rabbi Sacks’ wife, Lady Sacks, added that “there is certainly more antisemitism now than there was twenty years ago. It’s in the papers every day, it’s extraordinary. Recently, one of our friends was leaving the synagogue with his two sons and a man harangued them, said ‘you Jew’ and swore at them. The kids always looked forward to going to synagogue with their dad and now they are nervous to go.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Jeremy Corbyn says Labour peer who signed advertisement protesting Labour antisemitism “lowered himself”

Jeremy Corbyn has responded to a critical advertisement by accusing one of the signatories of having “lowered himself”.

Last month, 67 Labour peers took out a full-page advertisement in the The Guardian accusing Mr Corbyn of having “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitism. The advertisement stated: “The Labour Party welcomes everyone* irrespective of race, creed, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation. (*except, it seems, Jews). This is your legacy, Mr Corbyn.”

Asked by a local Cumbrian newspaper about the endorsement of the advertisement by Lord Liddle, who is also a local councillor in the area, Mr Corbyn said: “I’m very sorry that he lowered himself by putting his name to that advertisement.”

The Labour leader went on to say that “Our party is big, our party is open, our party is diverse — there is no place whatsoever for antisemitism, xenophobia or any other form of racism, not just in my party but in our society. That kind of thing only divides people and weakens us all as a community. Our strength is our diversity.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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The emperor has no clothes: more hand-wringing and statements from the Shadow Cabinet will not count as action

Tomorrow, Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet will meet in “emergency” session, more than a week after the BBC’s excellent Panorama documentary was broadcast into Britain’s homes, telling the heartbreaking insiders’ account of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

For those who have been paying close attention to the antisemitism crisis in Labour that has been unfolding since Mr Corbyn was elected to lead the Party four years ago, there were few new facts in the Panorama documentary. However, for the first time, a string of loyal Labour members at the very centre of the Party’s disciplinary process, recounted the full detail of what they have seen: those controlling the levers of power within the Party have ridden roughshod over both the Party’s own regulations and its beleaguered staff, to protect antisemites from proper disciplinary action.

Whilst the whistleblowers’ account will have left viewers feeling deeply upset and enraged by the actions of the Party’s leadership, the Party’s response to the documentary was remorseless. The Party’s leadership removed any doubt as to the sincerity of its introspection by circling its wagons: it immediately used legal threats, sackings and vitriol against those who have criticised it. Labour’s lashing out has only served to underline that the once fiercely anti-racist Labour Party has now institutionalised its leader’s racism. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long held a clear position:

  • Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite who is unfit to hold any public office;
  • Under his leadership, the Labour Party has become institutionally antisemitic;
  • A Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to British Jewry;
  • Labour’s antisemitism crisis cannot be solved by those who created it; and
  • The Labour Party cannot be a force for good whilst it is in Jeremy Corbyn’s grip.

We have been calling out the institutional nature of the Party’s antisemitism, as well as the antisemitism of its leader, for years now. This culminated in the Equality and Human Rights Commission agreeing to open a full statutory investigation into unlawful antisemitism within the Party, at our request. However, the Panorama documentary, featuring the voices of young employees so plainly distressed by what they had experienced, laid bare for a mass audience how Mr Corbyn, and his allies and advisers, have interfered in disciplinary processes in order to keep antisemites within the Party.

Now, the entire viewing public knows what the Jewish community and many others have long claimed: from insider testimony, they have seen that the members, employees and officers of the Labour Party almost certainly have known for some time that Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite, and that his Party is institutionally antisemitic. The collusion and torrent of denials that we now see convince nobody: they are nothing short of complicity in covering for an antisemite.

Finally it is clear for all to see: the emperor has no clothes.

As though awoken from a spell, some of the institutions within the orbit of the Party — such as Labour members of the House of the Lords, the GMB Union, staff at the membership department in Newcastle, and even some MPs — have responded to the documentary as one would have expected them to have done years ago: by vehemently calling out the attempts to aid antisemites within the Party and the ill-treatment of staff who were simply trying to do their jobs to prevent illegal discrimination. These actions — welcome though they are — are merely symbolic. The House of Lords, for example, cannot force change.

The stakes could not be higher. We scarcely need to use our imaginations to see how Britain might look for Jews were it governed by the same people and forces as those who have been governing the Labour Party since 2015. Why should we believe that civil servants and officials attempting to apply the law against antisemites would face a different fate than Labour staffers and officials who were sidelined, forced to take sick leave, disciplined, threatened with legal action, sacked or driven to suicidal thoughts because they dared to call out antisemitism? In this context, it is no surprise that a recent survey showed that 40% of British Jews would consider leaving this country in the event that Jeremy Corbyn was elected Prime Minister. 

When the Shadow Cabinet meets tomorrow to engage yet again in a show of being seen to object to the racism that has overcome their Labour Party, if history is a guide, then nothing of significance will result. Political fig leaves might be applied, resolutions may be recommended to Party conference months hence, and worthy statements about speeding up processes issued, but the whole country now knows that the emperor is stark naked: Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite, and his Party is infested with antisemitism. The hand-wringing and statements we have seen and heard so many times over the past four years do not count as meaningful action.

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Liberal Democrats leadership hopefuls cite antisemitism as reason not to back Corbyn government

Liberal Democrats leadership rivals, Jo Swinson and Sir Ed Davey, have said that they would not support a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn.

Both candidates criticised Mr Corbyn over antisemitism during an interview on 3rd July on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, with Ms Swinson noting that “Jeremy Corbyn is a Brexiteer, but he has also failed to deal with antisemitism in the Labour Party.” Sir Ed agreed with her, noting “the way Corbyn’s failed on antisemitism.”

In a subsequent interview with Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, Sir Ed instead that the Liberal Democrats “have and must always have zero tolerance for antisemitism,” while Ms Swinson made the following pledge: “Corbyn is a Brexiteer which makes coalition impossible and undesirable. His inability, at best, to act on antisemitism within his party would make it impossible for me to work with him on a personal level in any sort of arrangement.”

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67 Labour peers take out advertisement saying Jeremy Corbyn “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitism

In an unprecedented step, 67 Labour peers have taken out a full-page advertisement in The Guardian today accusing Jeremy Corbyn of having “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitism.

The signatories represent over a third of Labour’s members in the House of Lords and include over a dozen former ministers.

The advertisement states: “The Labour Party welcomes everyone* irrespective of race, creed, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation. (*except, it seems, Jews). This is your legacy, Mr Corbyn.”

The signatories charged that: “Under your leadership, Labour is no longer a safe place for all members and supporters, whatever their ethnicity or faith. Thousands have resigned and thousands more feel unable to attend party meetings because of the toxic culture you have allowed to divide our movement.”

They added: “We are not asking if you are an antisemite. We are saying you are accountable as leader for allowing antisemitism to grow in our party and presiding over the most shaming period in Labour’s history.”

The advertisement concluded: “You have failed to defend our party’s anti-racist values. You have therefore failed the test of leadership.”

This follows the exposé last week on the BBC’s flagship investigative documentary programme, Panorama, in which former Labour Party employees spoke out publicly to reveal Mr Corbyn’s personal meddling in disciplinary cases relating to antisemitism.

In a lengthy response to the advertisement, a Labour Party spokesman told The Guardian that Labour was taking decisive action against antisemitism “regardless of false and misleading claims about the party by those hostile to Jeremy Corbyn’s politics.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members. Last week, three Labour peers resigned the whip over antisemitism.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Heather Mendick who said antisemitism claims have been “weaponised” appointed by Labour to rebuild relationship with Jewish community

Heather Mendick, who said that antisemitism claims have been “weaponised”, has been appointed by the Labour Party to rebuild its relationship with the Jewish community.

This is yet another show of disdain for the Jewish community by the Labour Party and comes just days after BBC Panorama’s exposé of Jeremy Corbyn’s meddling in antisemitism cases.

According to the Daily Mail, Ms Mendick’s liaison role will involve working in Mr Corbyn’s office one day a week.

Ms Mendick, who is a member of Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, and works as a research consultant and Secretary of Hackney South Labour Party, is clearly unfit for such a role.

She said that antisemitism claims have been “weaponised” and criticised calls for Labour to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism. She also joined disgraced MP Chris Williamson on his “Democracy Roadshow” and expressed “solidarity” for Jenny Manson, a member of the sham Jewish Voice For Labour (JVL), an antisemitism denial group. She even signed a letter in The Guardian claiming that Mr Corbyn is a “formidable” opponent of antisemitism after Luciana Berger resigned from Labour over “institutional antisemitism.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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BBC Panorama’s exposé of Jeremy Corbyn’s meddling in antisemitism cases is further evidence that he is racist and unfit for office

Former Labour Party employees have spoken out publicly on the BBC’s flagship investigative documentary programme, Panorama, to reveal Jeremy Corbyn’s personal meddling in disciplinary cases relating to antisemitism.

The documentary lays bare the scale of the interference by agents of Mr Corbyn in the process. The programme is peppered with unconvincing denials from Labour’s press team.

The programme explains how senior Labour Party staffers, some of whom Campaign Against Antisemitism has known for years, used to independently run Labour’s disciplinary process, but soon after Mr Corbyn’s election as Party leader found themselves contending with his most senior aides.

The programme shows how brazen Mr Corbyn’s staff were in their efforts to subvert due process.

Early in the Party’s antisemitism crisis, Seumas Milne, often referred to as the ‘brain’ behind Mr Corbyn, is described as laughing by Mike Creighton, who led the Party’s disciplinary team, when Mr Creighton suggested means of improving the Party’s response to antisemitism. In a statement, Labour claimed Mr Creighton was lying.

However during the programme, one staffer after another described how gradually Mr Corbyn’s agents increased their interference in the disciplinary process. According to the former staffers’ testimony and e-mails shown to Panorama, Mr Corbyn’s team and his ally, General Secretary Jennie Formby, intervened to reduce the punishment for antisemites, and even to try to alter the composition of a disciplinary panel of the Party’s National Constitutional Committee.

One staffer described how a member of staff in Mr Corbyn’s office said that there was a “Jewish conspiracy” against Ken Livingstone, after Mr Livingstone said that Hitler was “supporting Zionism”. Another official said that a new leader of the disciplinary team installed by allies of Mr Corbyn claimed that there was no problem with an image shared by a Labour member from a far-right website depicting an alien parasite emblazoned with a Star of David smothering the Statue of Liberty.

Among the revelations made by former staff are that Mr Corbyn’s office was “angry and obstructive” when it came to antisemitism; that officials brought in by Ms Formby “overruled” disciplinary decisions and “downgraded” punishments to a “slap on the wrist”; that Mr Corbyn’s office demanded that documentation related to antisemitism complaints be brought to his House of Commons office for his aides to review; and that Jennie Formby stated her intention to alter the composition of a panel hearing the case of Jackie Walker.

The programme showed how impartial professional staff were sidelined and driven out as Mr Corbyn’s outriders led the Party into a state of institutional antisemitism.

The former officials said that they were driven to suicidal thoughts, and mental breakdowns as a result. Some of them had to break legally-binding agreements that they had signed with the Labour Party in order to speak to Panorama. One former official said that she would not: “be able to live with myself unless I speak up about the horrendous things that I know have been happening.”

In the course of the documentary, as one Jewish Labour member after another described the racism they faced, the former Labour officials said that they could not rule out the idea that Mr Corbyn himself is an antisemite, and stated that if Labour’s current rules were applied to him regarding his actions and statements before his elevation to leader, that he would be expelled from the Party.

Inflexible and unbending in their thinking, Mr Corbyn and his team are amongst the last adherents of discredited antisemitic myths generated in the postwar Soviet Union, the ‘anti-Imperialist’ ideas of Hobson, and the ‘Jewish Question’ of early Marxism, ideas that the formerly Social Democratic Labour Party thought it had left behind, but failed to purge from its “broad church”. Pickled in ancient racism, they are immune to the complaints of antisemitism that the British Jewish Community has experienced. Within this inner group, under Mr Corbyn’s command, it is no wonder that anti-Jewish racism is enabled and encouraged, allowing conspiracy theories and bigotry about Jews to flourish.

Campaign Against Antisemitism declared the Labour Party to be “institutionally antisemitic” back in 2016, followed by other Jewish community charities two years later.

Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted complaints to Labour itself calling for Jeremy Corbyn to be disciplined, under the same rules that have seen Jackie Walker expelled and Chris Williamson suspended, rules that Mr Corbyn has himself similarly breached.

We were also the first to rightly call Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite, a term used again by the Party’s former General Secretary, Lord Triesman, when resigning the Labour whip in disgust yesterday.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s correct diagnosis of Labour’s racist sickness was subsequently vindicated when the Equality and Human Rights Commission agreed to act on our referral and launch a full statutory investigation into antisemitism within the Party following our submission of evidence to them.

Despite the Labour Party finding itself in the company only of the fascist British National Party in being subject to such an investigation, it has failed to alter its behaviour — bearing witness, as if it were needed, to its ingrained institutional blindness to the hatred of Jews among its own members and officers.

Since then, figures such as their own former Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer — initially asked by the party to investigate the matter for them — have been publicly aghast at the Party’s failure to deal promptly and clearly with extreme cases that have emerged since the investigation was announced.

In response to the Panorama broadcast, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Former Labour officials, have been compelled by their conscience to speak out, revealing the scale of the duplicity behind Labour’s failure to address the Party’s antisemitism crisis. Whilst claiming to act against Jew hatred, Jeremy Corbyn’s agents and allies have carefully protected antisemites.

“It was heartbreaking to watch the testimony of honourable lifelong Labour officials contemplating suicide and suffering breakdowns because of the actions of Mr Corbyn and his team. This testimony will add significant weight to the statutory investigation that the Equality and Human Rights Commission is undertaking following our referral.

“The charade of Jeremy Corbyn as an anti-racist activist has been blown apart. Mr Corbyn’s support for antisemites and his team’s protection of antisemites demonstrate that Mr Corbyn himself is an antisemite who is unfit to hold any public office, including that of Leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition. For as long as the Labour Party is in Jeremy Corbyn’s grip, it cannot be a force for good.”

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Readmission and resuspension of Chris Williamson echoes Ken Livingstone case and shows that Labour’s “due process” remains a sham

The Labour Party’s decision to readmit and then resuspend its disgraced MP, Chris Williamson, shows that its pretence of “due process” in its disciplinary decisions is a sham.

Mr Williamson has devoted much of his time as an MP to baiting Jews by dismissing allegations of antisemitism as “proxy wars and bulls***” whilst supporting Labour activists like Marc Wadsworth and Jackie Walker who were expelled from the Party over their comments. Eventually, the Labour Party suspended Mr Williamson under duress in response to a public outcry after a video emerged of him claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism. On the way to being told of his suspension he was seen receiving a warm hug from Party Chairman Ian Lavery.

The decision to reinstate him shows that the Labour Party holds British Jews in contempt and demonstrates that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was right to act on our referral and open a full statutory investigation into Labour’s antisemitism crisis.

The Labour Party initially stood by the decision of its National Executive Committee’s (NEC) Disputes Panel to readmit Mr Williamson, with a Labour source merely offering that “He could face further, more severe, action if he repeats any similar comments or behaviour”, but that changed in response to uproar from over 120 Labour MPs and peers who demanded that Mr Williamson lose the whip.

The Labour Party has now decided not to lift Mr Williamson’s suspension, having decided to readmit him. This effectively amounts to resuspension. The Party has said that the verdict will be reconsidered.

The case mirrors the sequence of events in which Ken Livingstone, having claimed that Hitler “was supporting Zionism”, was suspended by the Party, investigated, readmitted prompting a furore, and then suspended anew so that supposed new allegations could be investigated. Mr Livingstone resigned from the Party before a new verdict could be reached. Mr Corbyn said that Mr Livingstone’s departure brought him “sadness”.

For years, we have watched as Baroness Chakrabarti first shrouded Labour’s disciplinary process in secrecy, and then as it increasingly became corrupted by political influence. Occasional public episodes such as the cases of Mr Livingstone and now Mr Williamson show just how untrustworthy the Labour Party is when it comes to handling cases of antisemitism.

On 28th May, the EHRC launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Pro-Corbyn activists post near-identical mocking tweets claiming they are the child of a Holocaust survivor and that Jeremy Corbyn is not antisemitic

Pro-Corbyn activists have reportedly posted near-identical mocking tweets claiming that they are the child of a Holocaust survivor and that Jeremy Corbyn is not antisemitic.

The tweets from several accounts, which appear to be cut and pasted, have made the same claims: that their mother “lost 39 members of her family in the camps” and they have “lectured at Auschwitz” on Holocaust or genocide prevention.

It has been uncovered that these tweets use wording that is nearly identical to an original post from the London-based South African film-maker, author and former politician, Andrew Feinstein.

When the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, called Mr Corbyn an antisemite earlier this month, Mr Feinstein responded in a tweet: “As a Jew, the son of a Holocaust survivor who lost 39 members of her family in the camps & someone who has lectured at Auschwitz on Holocaust prevention, I find your comment deeply repugnant & offensive to the memory of all who died in the Shoah.”

Mr Feinstein posted a similar tweet later in June adding: “I can state unequivocally that Jeremy Corbyn is not an antisemite!”

It has also been revealed that one of the accounts copying Mr Feinstein’s message, recently posted polls asking followers whether Russians or Zionists control the US government and whether the Holocaust was a hoax.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour Party decision to overrule its own staff and readmit Chris Williamson shows that Equality and Human Rights Commission is right to be acting on CAA’s referral

Chris Williamson’s suspension from the Labour Party has been lifted today by a three-person National Executive Committee (NEC) disciplinary panel. Mr Williamson was merely issued with a formal warning after being found to have breached the Party’s rules, despite Labour Party staff recommending that he instead be referred to the next stage of the Party’s disciplinary process.

According to PoliticsHome, Keith Vaz led the moves to reject a recommendation from Labour staff that Mr Williamson be referred to the party’s National Constitution Committee, which deals with serious disciplinary cases. He reportedly argued that because Mr Williamson represents a marginal seat and that Labour MPs have less than two weeks to tell party bosses whether they wish to stand at the next election, he should be let off with a warning.

Mr Williamson has devoted much of his time as an MP to baiting Jews by dismissing allegations of antisemitism as “proxy wars and bulls***” whilst supporting Labour activists like Marc Wadsworth and Jackie Walker who were expelled from the Party over their comments. Eventually, the Labour Party suspended Mr Williamson under duress in response to a public outcry after a video emerged of him claiming that Labour has been “too apologetic” over antisemitism. On the way to being told of his suspension he was seen receiving a warm hug from Party Chairman Ian Lavery.

In response to uproar over the decision, a Labour source confirmed: “He could face further, more severe, action if he repeats any similar comments or behaviour.”

The decision to reinstate him shows that the Labour Party holds British Jews in contempt and demonstrates that the Equality and Human Rights Commission was right to act on our referral and open a full statutory investigation into Labour’s antisemitism crisis.

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Disgraced peer Baroness Tonge, blames Israel for rise in antisemitic violence in House of Lords debate

The disgraced peer, Baroness Jenny Tonge, has blamed Israel for the rise in antisemitic violence in a speech during a debate on antisemitism in the House of Lords yesterday and was “saddened” not to be discussing “prejudice generally.”

Baroness Tonge has a long history of using inflammatory, and sometimes antisemitic, language. She was twice suspended from the Liberal Democrats over allegations of antisemitism and eventually resigned as pressure mounted.

Baroness Tonge started her speech by comparing herself to the biblical prophet Daniel: “I felt a little like Daniel in the lions’ den at the beginning of the debate today; I just trust I will be spared, as he was, at the end of the debate.”

She defended Jeremy Corbyn: “He is not antisemitic; he is a man who feels passionately about human rights and, like me, does not always express it in the right sort of way. Nevertheless, he cares deeply about human rights.”

She claimed that the problem of antisemitism has been overstated: “I have seen the statistics and accept that there has been a rise in antisemitic incidents over the last three years, but I also note — from reports by Tell MAMA and the recent report from the all-party group led by the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi — that there has been a much greater rise in Islamophobic incidents over the same period and that they are more frequent and severe.”

She added: “I am therefore saddened that we cannot discuss the rise in prejudice generally.”

Blaming Israel’s actions for the rise in antisemitic violence, she said: “There was a surge in violent antisemitic activity during and after Operation Protective Edge in 2014 — a vicious and deadly attack on Gaza by the Israeli armed forces, in which thousands of Gazans were killed and injured. The killing and maiming continue, of course, with further attacks on Gaza and at the Friday protests.”

She continued: “These events are not quickly forgotten, and I suggest that some if not many people who commit antisemitic acts do not distinguish between ordinary Jewish people — I know that noble Lords hate that phrase — and the Zionist Israeli Government of what is now called the Jewish State of Israel. It is too difficult a distinction for many people to make.​”

She complained that: “I am sick of the filthy abuse that I get online, sick of the accusations of antisemitism being levelled against me and appalled that I never get any apology, even when the accusations are found to be fabricated, as they were two years ago.”

In a Facebook post in October last year, soon after neo-Nazi Robert Bowers slaughtered eleven people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Baroness Tonge responded to the attack with a post declaring: “Absolutely appalling and a criminal act, but does it ever occur to Bibi [as the Israeli Prime Minister is nicknamed] and the present Israeli government that it’s [sic] actions against Palestinians may be re-igniting antisemitism? I suppose someone will say that it is antisemitic to say so?”

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Labour peer Lord Falconer says “there are probably thousands of antisemitics in the Labour Party”

Labour peer Lord Falconer has said that “there are probably thousands of antisemitics [sic] in the Labour Party” during an interview on LBC.

His assessment followed the announcement yesterday that Chris Williamson’s suspension from the Labour Party was lifted by a three-person National Executive Committee (NEC) disciplinary panel. Mr Williamson was merely issued with a formal warning after being found to have breached the Party’s rules, despite Labour Party staff recommending that he instead be referred to the next stage of the Party’s disciplinary process.

Speaking to Iain Dale, Lord Falconer said that: “There are real question marks over Labour’s commitment to fight off antisemitism and they are very big question marks. And although I am absolutely sure the vast vast vast majority of members of the Labour Party are not antisemitic, there are probably thousands of antisemitics [sic] in the Labour Party.”

He also suggested that there was a “dangerous” factional aspect towards fighting antisemitism in Labour. He said that: “If you are, quote, a moderate, or to the right, you’re in favour of fighting antisemitism and if you’re far to the left, then you’re not in favour of fighting antisemitism.”

Earlier this month, Lord Falconer said that the Labour Party has failed the “acid test” in failing to have dealt with the Pete Willsman antisemitism case promptly, noting by comparison that Alastair Campbell had been expelled within a day of admitting on television that he had voted for the Liberal Democrats.

In an opinion piece in the Jewish News, he wrote that: “I said 14 days ago that it would be an acid test of the Labour Party’s disciplinary process whether it dealt with the Pete Willsman case within 14 days. The 14 days are up today. Apart from suspending him, nothing meaningful has happened.”

In explaining the “test”, Lord Falconer was further reported to have explained: “The Willsman case is an acid test of whether or not the Labour Party can be trusted in relation to antisemitism” and that unless it transpired that Mr Willsman was not in fact the person recorded on the tape, or that the recording had been doctored in some way, “he should definitely be expelled.”

Mr Willsman, a member of Labour’s NEC, was suspended after being recorded claiming that the “Israeli embassy” and an Israeli “agent” are “behind all this antisemitism against Jeremy.”

Mr Willsman had previously caused outrage at an NEC meeting by angrily accusing the sixty-eight leading Rabbis of the UK’s Jewish community of misleading the public in a letter they had co-signed criticising the Labour Party’s failure to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, and by saying that members of the Jewish community were “Trump fanatics” who “make up information…without any evidence at all”. Following the release of the recording, no action was taken against Mr Willsman, but the Labour Party general secretary and the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP, both pledged that such action would be taken if any such incidents recurred.

The Labour Party’s leaders had controversially considered putting Lord Falconer in charge of another “independent” review of Labour’s handling of disciplinary cases of antisemitism.

In March, Lord Falconer, who served as Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary from 2003 to 2007 and was a flatmate of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said that he would not conduct a review of Labour’s handling of disciplinary cases of antisemitism after the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) stepped in and begun pre-enforcement proceedings.

On 28th May, the EHRC launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

Lord Falconer wrote in the op-ed in the Jewish News that the investigation is: “Shaming but necessary and welcome.” He also renewed his offer to step in to look at processes of handling antisemitism complaints and said that: “I stepped back when the EHRC stepped forward. The inevitable and understandable delay before they report makes me feel it is time to renew that offer.”

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour MP Rupa Huq denies antisemitism allegations by two former employees who lodged formal complaints with Party

Dr Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, has reportedly been accused of antisemitism by two of her former employees who have lodged formal complaints with the Party. Dr Huq, who has held her seat since 2015, denied what she called “false and malicious” allegations.

According to the report in The Times, the Labour Party is understood to have asked its Parliamentary whips to speak to Dr Huq and look into the claims before deciding whether to begin a full investigation.

The two employees worked at Dr Huq’s Westminster office until this year. The first complainant who has a Jewish heritage and worked for Dr Huq for 11 months, sent a dossier of more than 2,500 words to Labour the week before last, detailing alleged antisemitic incidents in her office.

According to The Times, the complaint alleged that on just the complainant’s second day, their relationship with Dr Huq began to deteriorate. He had three badges on his bag, including a Star of David, a symbol commonly associated with Judaism and the Jewish People. He alleged that Dr Huq asked him: “Why do you have the flag of Israel on your bag?” Thinking that it was just an innocuous mistake, he corrected her that it was not in fact the Israeli flag. However, he claimed that she repeatedly asked the same question throughout the day. It is understood that Dr Huq only recalled asking the question once.

Later that month, Dr Huq, who completed a PhD in cultural studies thesis on youth culture at the University of East London, allegedly accused him of writing a policy paper on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was too pro-Israel. She then reportedly “banned” him from working on policy responses, which the complainant felt was related to the Star of David on his bag incident. Furthermore, a source close to Dr Huq alleged that a constituent expressed concern about an e-mail that the complainant sent on Dr Huq’s behalf in response to the situation in Gaza.

Last June, the complainant said that Dr Huq, without informing her staff, attended an event run by the APC, a Palestinian community group. Afterwards, she reportedly asked her staff to find photographs of her at the event. While searching, they found an image posted recently by APC, which apparently showed a man in front of a gun with Arabic text as a caption. They got it translated and discovered that it meant: “Ahmad Nassar Jarrar, hero in our land.” Mr Jarrar had been accused earlier last year of masterminding the murder of a rabbi.

When Dr Huq’s staff expressed concern, she reportedly responded: “No, no they are just a pro-Palestine group.” A source close to Dr Huq, however, told the newspaper that she was actually “sickened” by the image and never attended an APC event again.

The Times reported that it had seen an e-mail, that was found by the complainant, from Dr Huq’s parliamentary account to another staffer about a Jewish student who had applied for a role. Dr Huq invoked the student’s Jewish background and wrote: “Will have to say no but don’t want him to claim antisemitism.” She is understood to still have a good relationship with the applicant, who was not privy to the e-mails.

The same questions were generally asked by Dr Huq when she interviewed candidates for staffing positions. However, according to the claimant, in September she reportedly “devised a whole separate line of questioning based on Judaism and loyalty to Israel for one of the candidates.” Dr Huq is understood to explain the questioning to that Jewish applicant having a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies.

The Times reported that the second complainant stated that Dr Huq had made one former employee “listen to her conspiracy theories surrounding the Jewish community.” A source close to Dr Huq denied this to the newspaper and said she “has no recollection of this whatsoever and rejects the allegation that it happened.” The second complainant said that when the first was on sick leave, Dr Huq took a “no tolerance for antisemitism” poster and threw it on the floor and said: “Well, we obviously don’t need this any more.” Again, Dr Huq is understood to have no recollection of saying this.

A spokeswoman for Dr Huq told The Times: “We don’t comment on staffing matters. Any suggestion that Rupa is antisemitic or has acted inappropriately is entirely false and malicious.” The Labour Party’s response simply said: “We take all complaints seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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UK Government kept discovery of tons of Hizballah-linked explosives secret, possibly to avoid upsetting Iran

It has emerged that the Government hushed up its discovery of tons of explosive-making chemicals stockpiled by Hizballah-linked terrorists in London in 2015, and additionally the Government nonetheless resisted proscribing Hizballah until this year.

According to an extensive investigation by The Daily Telegraph, Hizballah operatives stockpiled thousands of ice packs containing ammonium nitrate at a secret bomb factory on the outskirts of London.

The disclosure followed a three-month investigation by The Daily Telegraph in which more than 30 current and former officials in Britain, America and Cyprus were approached and court documents were obtained.

One source told the newspaper that the plot was “proper organised terrorism” while another said that enough explosive materials were stored to do “a lot of damage.” Well-placed sources, however, said there was no evidence Britain would have been the target.

It was revealed that the plot was uncovered by MI5 and the Metropolitan Police in the autumn of 2015, reportedly after a tip-off from the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, according to Israeli media.

The Daily Telegraph reported that three businesses and a home were raided in North West London and a man in his forties was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorism before being released without charge. North West London is home to a large Jewish community.

Eventually a decision was taken not to bring charges. It is understood by the newspaper that investigators were confident that they had disrupted the plot and gained useful information about Hizballah’s activities in Britain and overseas.

The discovery was reportedly so serious that the then Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May, were personally briefed on it.

However, MPs were kept in the dark even when they were debating in the House of Commons whether to proscribe Hizballah in its entirety.

During Parliamentary debates on banning Hizballah, MPs were deprived of critical information about the terrorist plot. It gives the perception that the primary concern of the Government was about the diplomacy surrounding the controversial nuclear deal with Iran, as Iran sponsors Hizballah. The discovery came just months after the UK signed up to the deal.

This will leave the Jewish community feeling vulnerable.

Hizballah seeks the extermination of Jews. Its Secretary-General could not have been plainer when he said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

Hizballah has acted on its murderous mantra, bombing Jewish civilians from Buenos Aires to Burgas, and it has even been blamed for two bombings targeting Jews in London in 1994. Its most notorious atrocity was the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association Jewish centre in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1994, in which 85 people were killed.

In February this year, Hizballah was completely proscribed by the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, with the support of the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. This followed a gruelling effort over several years by Campaign Against Antisemitism and our allies.

Until then, the British Government had distinguished between Hizballah’s “military wing” and “political wing”, even though Hizballah mocked the Government and said that no such distinction exists. The loophole enabled brazen shows of support for Hizballah, including at previous “Al Quds Day” parades where pro-Hizballah supporters marched through central London waving Hizballah flags and placards with “We Are All Hizballah.”

This year’s “Al Quds Day” parade saw open antisemitism from attendees, who marched under banners declaring that it is a “crime” or “racism” to support Zionism, the movement to grant Jews the same right to self-determination as all peoples are granted under Article 1 of the United Nations Charter. Some compared Zionism to Nazism. No support for Hizballah was visible this year because of the proscription.

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Andrew Murray, close adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, reportedly offered advice on stopping investigation into Max Tasker using his Unite union e-mail address instead of his official Labour account

Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Jeremy Corbyn and Chief of Staff to the Unite union, reportedly offered advice on stopping the investigation into Labour activist, Max Tasker, using his e-mail address belonging to the Unite union, meaning that his message was not sent through the Labour Party’s e-mail system.

The e-mail, obtained by the JC, exposed Mr Murray intervening in a case in which Mr Tasker, who is listed as a councillor for Welsh Labour on Bay of Colwyn Town Council and a member of the antisemitism denial group, the sham Jewish Voice For Labour (JVL), faced suspension after denying that an antisemitic mural defended by Jeremy Corbyn was in fact antisemitic.

Between 24th September 2014 and 13th October 2014, Mr Tasker posted YouTube videos to his Facebook page with the titles: “Is ISIS good for the Jews?”, “The whole story of Zionist conspiracy: the filthy history of pedophilia, murder and bigotry”, “Not for the immature! Zionist Antichrist will rule the [New World Order]” and “Ukraine’s anti-Russian stance is a Zionist masterplan — Sheikh Imran Hosein.”

In September 2017, Mr Tasker contacted Campaign Against Antisemitism and told us that he watched the YouTube videos that he posted to his Facebook page in order to “understand what was behind all these Jewish/Zionist conspiracy theories”. However he did not explain why in addition to watching the videos, he also posted them without comment, nor did he explain his other comments. He also told us that: “My beef is with the policies of Israel’s government due to its breaking of international law and human rights abuses, and not in any way with Jews”.

The e-mail revealed by the JC was sent to Mr Murray’s daughter, Laura, as well as Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyn’s Chief of Staff and Seumas Milne, Labour’s Director of Communications and Strategy. Ms Murray is the disgraced senior parliamentary aide to Mr Corbyn who was formally appointed to lead the Labour Party’s disciplinary process. She was exposed for intervening to prevent the suspension of alleged antisemite Pat Sheerin from the Labour Party. In leaked e-mails, she said that she intervened on behalf of Mr Corbyn himself.

Mr Murray was reportedly “not sure” about a decision reached by staffer Sam Matthews to suspend Mr Tasker and argued that disagreeing about the nature of the mural was not antisemitic. He wrote that: “people disagree about the mural in a way that is not in itself antisemitic.” He added that: “I would think that investigation without suspension at this stage may be sufficient.”

In October 2012, Los Angeles-based street artist Mear One, painted a wall in London’s East End which featured apparently-Jewish bankers beneath a pyramid often used by conspiracy theorists playing Monopoly on a board carried by straining, oppressed workers. It emerged that Mr Corbyn defended the public display of a huge mural on the “grounds of freedom of speech.”

One senior Labour source told the JC that: “It would appear that discussions of many Labour antisemitism cases have taken place on e-mail addresses linked to Unite union [sic]. While some included open engagement with Labour members on e-mail addresses linked to the Party, there is obviously concern that some cases may have been discussed privately outside of Labour’s e-mail trail among Party members who also retained the use of Unite e-mail addresses.” They added that: “From what I can ascertain, we may be talking about a whole raft, rather than a few single e-mails.”

Last month, it emerged that in 2005, Mr Murray authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration.

In 2017, Len McCluskey, General Secretary of the Unite union, told the BBC that claims of antisemitism in the Labour Party are “mood music” to “undermine Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership” and that people who allege it have been “playing games”.

Last Tuesday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Daily Mail investigation reports that PSC and SPSC forced Jewish shops to close with “campaign of intimidation”

Activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and its Scottish equivalent (SPSC) have reportedly forced Jewish shops to close with a “campaign of intimidation.”

The Daily Mail reported that the activists targeted shops in Aberdeen, Belfast, Brighton, Glasgow, London and Manchester, and held aggressive rallies outside them, forcing all but one of the businesses to close. The shop in Manchester remained open following efforts by North West Friends of Israel who worked with police to expose the antisemitism and thuggery of some of the PSC activists.

A new documentary called “Hounded” was released last week by Jewish Human Rights Watch (JHRW), to draw attention to this harassment of Jews who sell goods from Israel, highlighting a “campaign of intimidation” that has been going on for years.

It focused on the story of Nissan Ayalon, a British Jewish businessman who ran a business called Jericho Skin Care and who relocated three times, from Belfast to Glasgow and then to Aberdeen, saying that he did so to escape activists from the SPSC and Republican Network for Unity. Each time, however, they found him and attacked his shop, including with paint bombs because he sold Israeli cosmetics. He said that many other shops not run by Jews also sold Israeli products, but that they were not targeted.

Mr Ayalon, who emigrated to Britain from Krygystan, eventually fled the UK with his family after he was hounded for five years by the SPSC and Republican Network for Unity.

Just this Sunday, Mick Napier the Secretary of the SPCC told protesters at the “Al Quds Day” parade that Peter Willsman should not have been suspended for saying that the Israeli embassy was behind allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party. He declared that not only was the Israeli embassy behind “phoney” antisemitism “smears”, but that it also held workshops around the UK where “Zios” (an antisemitic slur word) plotted to orchestrate the “smears”.

In 2017, Mr Napier was found guilty of aggravated trespass at a protest outside the Jericho Skin Care cosmetics store in Glasgow during the 2014 Gaza war. The SPCC has previously been exposed over many of its supporters’ extremely antisemitic views.

A similar campaign by the PSC targeted shops in Brighton, London and Manchester, forcing two of them to close.

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst supporters of the PSC. A recent Evening Standard investigation uncovered supporters of the PSC sharing antisemitic posts comparing Israelis to Nazis. The shocking antisemitic posts reportedly included a cartoon comparing Israeli Jews with white power neo-Nazis and an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bathing in Palestinian blood, posing with Adolf Hitler.

Mr Corbyn is a patron of the PSC. He gave the “National Demonstration for Palestine” march in central London on 2nd June, which saw open antisemitism from attendees and was organised by the PSC, his ringing endorsement. Hamas, the terrorist organisation which seeks the murder of all Jews worldwide, issued a statement in which it “salutes” Jeremy Corbyn for supporting the march. It said that it had “great respect and appreciation [sic] the solidarity message sent by the British Labor [sic] Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn.”

British Jewish shopkeepers are being hounded by a movement that is rife with antisemitism and uses thuggery to get its way. Businesses selling Israeli products are given scant attention if they are owned by non-Jews, but if they are owned by Jews they are relentlessly harassed day after day. It is no wonder that British Jews feel intimidated and it is outrageous that the Labour Party leader refuses to cut his ties to the groups that carry out this bullying.

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As statutory investigation was launched into Labour antisemitism, internal letter shows General Secretary Jennie Formby tried deflecting attention to budget cuts at the EHRC

In an e-mail rushed to all Labour MPs as the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced its statutory investigation into Labour antisemitism and seen by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Party’s General Secretary, Jennie Formby, tried deflecting attention by briefing MPs on budget cuts to the Commission.

The briefing was rushed out minutes after the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that it would be launching a statutory investigation into antisemitic discrimination, harassment and victimisation within the Labour Party, following a referral and legal arguments from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

The e-mail told MPs that “Labour is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and is implacably opposed to antisemitism in any form”, going on to tell MPs to “reject any suggestion that the Party does not handle antisemitism complaints fairly and robustly, or that the Party has acted unlawfully”.

Bizarrely, Ms Formby tried to deflect attention onto the Commission’s budget, telling MPs that it has suffered “a 70% budget cut since 2010” and that “Labour is the party of equality and in government we will strengthen the powers and functions of the Commission.”

Ms Formby then went on to try to direct attention at “the Conservatives and other political parties”, which she said must do more to tackle racism.

She then ended by thanking Party staff “who have worked tirelessly to combat this issue”, despite the fact that they have in fact been embroiled in numerous efforts to protect antisemites.

The letter is yet further evidence that the Labour Party is not accepting responsibility for its antisemitism crisis, even now that it is under statutory investigation by the very Equality and Human Rights Commission it created in 2006. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the once fiercely anti-racist Labour Party has become institutionally antisemitic and an existential threat to British Jews.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair calls Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has called Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite in an interview at a panel event at Bar Ilan University in Israel.

Mr Blair said: “To be frank, this antisemitism row, it’s a shameful thing.” When asked if he believed Corbyn himself was antisemitic, he said yes, explaining: “Some of the remarks are not explicable in any other way, I’m afraid, and that is sad.”

When the question was posed if Mr Corbyn thinks that he is an antisemite, he replied: “No, he doesn’t think he is at all.”

In May, Mr Blair said that the the “poison” of antisemitism has returned in a rebuke of Mr Corbyn and the Labour Party. In powerful comments in a video in support of the new National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, Mr Blair said that: “Antisemitism and hate did not end in 1945. Unfortunately today some of this poison is back from the political fringe to parts of the political mainstream.”

Last Tuesday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

At the Bar Ilan University event, Mr Blair lamented that: “When I established [the EHRC], I never dreamed it would be investigating the Labour Party.”

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Corbyn still campaigns with Lisa Forbes, Labour’s candidate in Peterborough by-election, after learning she “enjoyed reading” comments under post claiming ISIS was created by Mossad

Jeremy Corbyn has continued to campaign with Lisa Forbes, Labour’s candidate in the Peterborough by-election, even after learning that she liked a Facebook post that said that Theresa May has a “Zionist slave master’s agenda” and commented that she “enjoyed reading” comments beneath a post claiming that ISIS and other extremists were created and funded by the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad.

When approached by the Peterborough Telegraph, she apologised and pledged to “deepen my understanding of antisemitism so I can act as an ally, challenging antisemitism wherever it occurs.”

Ms Forbes was joined by Jeremy Corbyn for campaigning on Saturday ahead of the by-election. Mr Corbyn refused to answer a journalist’s question if Pete Willsman will be expelled from Labour after he was suspended for claiming in a recording that the “Israeli embassy” and an “agent” are “behind all this antisemitism against Jeremy.”

This latest revelation in the Labour antisemitic crisis was uncovered by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

It is beyond disturbing that Ms Forbes has liked and commented positively on posts espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, and that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party continue to endorse her nonetheless, with no sign of even the façade of disciplinary proceedings. We will refer this incident to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for consideration during their statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party.

Ms Forbes was a signatory to an open letter in August last year to the Labour National Executive Committee (NEC) urging them not to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism in full.

Her co-signatories to the letter included Asa Winstanley and Rebecca Massey. Mr Winstanley called the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) an “Israeli Embassy proxy” and was reportedly suspended from Labour in March, pending an investigation. Ms Massey tweeted that “Israel has Tory & Labour parties under control.”

It also emerged that Ms Forbes posted in the Peterborough Palestine Solidarity Campaign Facebook group, a forum where one participant wrote about “Zionist rats” and another said that “Israel spends a fortune perverting our democracy.”

On Tuesday, the Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Yasmine Dar, member of Labour’s National Executive Committee, claims Equality and Human Rights Commission investigation into Labour is merely “political point scoring”

Yasmine Dar, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), has denied that antisemitism is an institutional problem in a blog post for Labour List.

The comments were in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) announcement on Tuesday that they launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

She wrote that: “I’m in favour of radical reforms to Labour’s disciplinary procedures so that we can more swiftly kick out the small number of antisemites in our ranks. But as a member of the national executive committee, I haven’t seen any evidence that this prejudice among a minority of members is an institutional problem.”

Ms Dar, who is also a Manchester City councillor, minimised the problem of antisemitism in Labour, writing: “Before you rush to judgement, let’s revisit the facts. Recently published data showed that complaints received by the party about antisemitism related to just 0.1% of party members. There is a larger group of members who have dismissed or downplayed the existence of antisemitism.”

She defended Labour’s response to antisemitism, writing: “We launched an inquiry and we have introduced a wide range of measures to improve our procedures” and praising Jeremy Corbyn whom she claimed “has written e-mails to all members, appealed to supporters in video messages, written opinion pieces and spoken in interviews about the ways in which antisemitism has manifested on the left. He has clearly stated that anyone who spreads antisemitic poison does not do so in his or the party’s name.”

Ms Dar also accused the “Labour right” of being part of a conspiracy to undermine Mr Corbyn, claiming: “Our party’s bureaucracy was controlled by the Labour right until last year, who — recent leaked e-mails suggest — may have sat on antisemitism cases to destabilise Jeremy’s leadership.”

She also claimed that the EHRC is being party political for not holding an investigation into “racism and Islamophobia within the Conservative Party” at the same time, concluding that: “What the EHRC has missed is an opportunity to rise above party politics and address deep rooted inequalities within our society. Instead of separate investigations into Labour and the Tories, the EHRC could have launched a joint inquiry into both, and prejudice in politics more broadly. Instead, we will see political point scoring, which does nothing to protect the interests of minority communities.”

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Labour National Executive Committee member Peter Willsman suspended for claiming Israeli embassy and “agent” are “behind all this antisemitism against Jeremy”

Peter Willsman, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), has been suspended after being recorded claiming that the “Israeli embassy” and an Israeli “agent” are “behind all this antisemitism against Jeremy.” The NEC presides over disciplinary cases.

Theo Usherwood, the Political Editor at radio station LBC, tweeted the recording of Mr Willsman speaking in January to Israeli author and journalist Tuvia Tenenbom who was in the UK to make a documentary about Brexit.

Last year, Mr Willsman was let off disciplinary charges following a tirade accusing Jewish “Trump fanatics” of “making up” antisemitism.

Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, refused to call for Willsman to be expelled then but accepted his apology, caveating it by saying that: “if he persists in those attitudes I think he should be standing down. But what I’m hoping is that he’s learnt a lesson.” Mr Willsman, within a couple of months, repeated his assertions that there was no antisemitism in the Party. No action was taken.

In a series of explosive comments in the recording, Mr Willsman said that: “One of these things about antisemitsm is that they’re using that to whip people up. They use anything. Any Lies. It’s all total lies and they just whip it up.”

He then said “off the record” that “It’s almost certain who is behind all this antisemitism against Jeremy. Almost certainly it was the Israeli Embassy. Because they caught somebody in the Labour Party. It turns out they were an agent in the Embassy.”

He continued that a letter in the Guardian last July signed by 68 rabbis calling on Labour to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism was “obviously organised by the Israeli Embassy.”

The accusation of Jews conspiring to subvert politics is one of the most well known antisemitic conspiracy theories. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

Mr Willsman also claimed to have close relations with Jeremy Corbyn. Calling himself “Red Pete”, he boasted that: “They call me Corbyn’s enforcer. But I said I don’t want to be called Corbyn’s enforcer because enforcers ain’t got no sense of humour. I’m more like Corbyn’s protector, ‘cos he never looks after himself. He never defends his back. Because he’s not interested in himself, he just wants to change the world.” He added that “it’s me who has to stop people stabbing him in the back” and claimed: “I spend 10 hours a day working for Jeremy Bernard Corbyn. Voluntary, 10 hours a day.”

Mr Willsman also made a claim that: “Jeremy stuck up for me and told them to p*** off” when he was previously caught making antisemitic comments.

On Tuesday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Equality and Human Rights Commission launches full statutory investigation into the Labour Party following complaint by CAA

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

The Commission’s investigation will evaluate the Labour Party’s handling of the many acts of antisemitic discrimination and victimisation detailed in the dossiers that Campaign Against Antisemitism has provided in a number of submissions since July 2018.

The Commission, which was created by a Labour government in 2006, is vested with tough powers designed to force organisations to comply with equality and human rights laws.

The decision to launch a statutory investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006 unlocks the Commission’s full range of enforcement powers, allowing it to compel the Labour Party to reveal details of its handling of antisemitism in recent years, including internal communications such as text messages and e-mails. The Commission can also seek court injunctions against the Labour Party to prevent further antisemitic discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and it can also impose an action plan on the Party and enforce compliance through the courts.

The Commission has made the move following a pre-enforcement engagement process with the Labour Party that left it convinced that the Party could not be trusted to resolve its antisemitism problem on its own. During the pre-enforcement engagement process, numerous senior Labour figures called for the Commission to investigate, including Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry and former Justice Secretary Lord Falconer.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “There are only two reasons that the Commission has taken this extraordinary step. The first is that the Labour Party has repeatedly failed to address its own antisemitism problem. The second is that when the Commission approached the Labour leadership, they still failed to offer to action sufficient to reassure the Commission that the antisemitic discrimination and victimisation would stop.

“Jeremy Corbyn, Jennie Formby and Labour’s National Executive Committee have refused to listen to British Jews nor even to the MPs, MEPs, councillors and activists who have quit Labour because the Party which for decades was a great anti-racist Party has now become a home for hatred in British politics. In just four chilling years, Jeremy Corbyn has turned the Party which pioneered anti-racism into the Party that now finds itself in the company of the BNP, being investigated by the very equality and human rights regulator it once fought so hard to establish. Over the course of his leadership we have seen enough to convince us that Jeremy Corbyn himself is an antisemite and unfit for any public office and though few have acted, most Labour MPs seem to agree with us.

“We are pleased that the Commission’s terms of reference closely follow our recommendations and will see a root and branch investigation of the Labour Party’s antisemitic discrimination, victimisation and harassment, as well as how the Party’s processes and decisions contributed. We commend the Commission for acting on our referral and we have full confidence in its resolve to investigate thoroughly and deliver justice.”

A spokesperson for the Commission said: “The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is today launching a formal investigation to determine whether The Labour Party has unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish. The EHRC is pleased that The Labour Party has committed to co-operate fully with its investigation…The EHRC has carefully considered the response it has received from the Party and has now opened a formal investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006 to further examine the concerns. The investigation will seek to determine whether unlawful acts have been committed by the Party and/or its employees and/or its agents; and whether the Party has responded to complaints of unlawful acts in a lawful, efficient and effective manner.”

The terms of reference for the investigation can be found below.

Background

Campaign Against Antisemitism first contacted the Equality and Human Rights Commission during the Labour Party Conference in Brighton in 2017. The conference was so rife with antisemitism that Brighton and Hove City Council’s Labour leader, Warren Morgan, told his own party that he would not permit use of Council premises for the conference again. Mr Morgan has since resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism. At the time, the Chief Executive of the Commission issued a statement demanding that the Labour Party prove “that it is not a racist party”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism made a number of disciplinary complaints to the Labour Party between 2016 and 2018 about Jeremy Corbyn, including about his defence of the antisemitic Tower Hamlets mural in 2012, his Holocaust Memorial Day event in 2010, and his Press TV interview in 2012 (Press TV is an Iranian state broadcaster which Ofcom banned from broadcasting in Britain).

The Labour Party refused to open an investigation into our complaints, and consequently on 31st July 2018, Campaign Against Antisemitism referred the Labour Party to the Commission over its institutional antisemitism. Other organisations, including two groups of Jewish Labour activists, have since written to the Commission to support our referral.

At the Commission’s request, Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted detailed legal arguments in November 2018. We have continued to provide additional legal arguments to the Commission based on developments since November, resulting in the Commission’s announcement on 7th March that it was starting pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party.

During the pre-enforcement period, the Labour Party had an opportunity to make representations to the Commission agreeing a plan of action that would remove the need for a statutory investigation by offering to implement certain measures against antisemitism that the Commission could monitor compliance with.

The Labour Party failed to satisfy the Commission that it could be trusted to address the issue itself, leading to today’s announcement of a full statutory investigation.

Enforcement process and powers

We asked the Commission to open a statutory investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006 into antisemitic discrimination and victimisation in the Labour Party.

Now that a statutory investigation has been launched, the Commission can use its powers to compel the Labour Party to reveal details of its handling of antisemitism in recent years, including internal communications such as text messages and e-mails. It can also seek court injunctions against the Labour Party to prevent further antisemitic discrimination and victimisation, and it can also impose an action plan on the Party and enforce compliance with the plan. Previous statutory investigations include an investigation into unlawful harassment, discrimination and victimisation within the Metropolitan Police Service.

The only other political party to have been subject to a statutory investigation is the British National Party.

Before the Commission opened its statutory investigation, which is considered a form of enforcement action, the Commission entered into a pre-enforcement period of engagement with the Labour Party, allowing it to propose a plan of action and make representations to the Commission giving reasons why enforcement should not commence, and offering to take action voluntarily, under the Commission’s supervision. This is normal practice.

Due to the public and brazen nature of antisemitic discrimination and victimisation in the Labour Party, and due to the Labour Party’s failure to convince the Commission that it would take suitable action, the Commission has now launched a full investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006.

Content of our legal submissions

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted four detailed legal submissions to the Commission, initially assisted by specialist human rights counsel Adam Wagner of Doughty Street Chambers and latterly also assisted by Derek Spitz of One Essex Court Chambers. The first was submitted on 9th November 2018.

We will not be releasing the submissions at this stage, however our submissions provided a substantial list of incidents for investigation, including incidents involving Mr Corbyn.

In summary, we made legal arguments that:

  • An unacceptable number of antisemitic incidents of unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation have occurred in Labour in recent years. These have occurred at all levels of the Party and continue to occur.
  • Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, Labour’s disciplinary mechanisms for dealing with antisemitism have been significantly weakened, and the machinery of the Party has been used to victimise those who stand up against antisemitism. 
  • A culture of denial and victimisation has developed in some sections of Labour in relation to antisemitism. For example, antisemitism allegations are often described as “smears”.
  • The result of the toxic culture which surrounds the issue of antisemitism in Labour is that people who suffer discrimination are subjected to victimisation when they raise complaints or are reluctant to bring complaints in the first place.
  • Antisemitism in Labour should be judged according to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Labour has itself adopted alongside the government and other major political parties.
  • Labour has failed to put in place a fair and effective complaints and disciplinary process to deal with antisemitism.
  • There is substantial evidence that the problem of antisemitism in Labour has become institutional.
  • Labour appears incapable of resolving this issue of antisemitism itself.
  • There is sufficient evidence to warrant a section 20 statutory investigation by the Commission into whether systemic unlawful acts have occurred in the handling of complaints of antisemitism in relation to Labour officials, members and other representatives, and whether Labour is now institutionally racist.

Terms of reference

The investigation’s finalised terms of reference as issued by the Commission are as follows:

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the Equality Act 2006.
Statutory Investigation under section 20 and Schedule 2 of the Equality Act 2006 into The Labour Party by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Background

1. The Commission suspects that The Labour Party (‘the Party’) may have itself, and/or through its employees and/or agents, committed unlawful acts in relation to its members and/or applicants for membership and/or associates.

Scope of investigation

2. The investigation will consider whether the Party carried out such unlawful acts.

3. The investigation will need to be effective but proportionate. The investigation will focus on the Party’s response to a sample of complaints of alleged unlawful acts that have taken place since 11 March 2016. However, the investigation may consider the Party’s response to such complaints that have taken place prior to this date, if it is considered necessary and appropriate.

4. In examining the evidence the Commission will look at such issues as it considers appropriate, which may include any or all of the following:
a. Whether unlawful acts have been committed by the Party and/or its employees and/or its agents
b. The steps taken by the Party to implement the recommendations made in the reports on antisemitism by Baroness Royall, the Home Affairs Select Committee and in the Chakrabarti Report
c. Whether the Rule Book and the Party’s investigatory and disciplinary processes have enabled or could enable it to deal efficiently and effectively with complaints of race and/or religion or belief discrimination and racial harassment and/or victimisation, including whether appropriate sanctions have been and/or could be applied; and
d. Whether the Party has responded to complaints of unlawful acts in a lawful, efficient and effective manner.

5. The Commission will publish a report of its findings and may make recommendations in accordance with Schedule 2 paragraph 16 of the 2006 Act.

Communications concerning this investigation

6. Any communications concerning this investigation may be sent in confidence to [email protected]

Interpretation

7. For the purposes of these terms of reference the following definitions apply:
a. ‘The 2006 Act’ means the Equality Act 2006
b. ‘The 2010 Act’ means the Equality Act 2010
c. ‘The Labour Party’ means the unincorporated association called The Labour Party governed by the Rule Book including those component parts of its structure referred to at Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Clause II, and Clause IX of Chapter 1of the Rule Book 2019 (for the avoidance of doubt this includes the NEC, NCC, CLPs and BLPs) but excluding organisations affiliated to it
d. ‘The Rule Book’ means the Labour Party Rule Book operative at the material time
e. ‘The Commission’ means the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (commonly known as the Equality and Human Rights Commission)
f. ‘Agent’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
g. ‘Associate’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
h. ‘Association’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
i. ‘BLP’ means a branch of a CLP as defined in the Rule Book
j. ‘CLP’ means a Constituency Labour Party as defined in the Rule Book
k. ‘Employee’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
l. ‘Member’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
m. ‘NCC’ means The Labour Party’s National Constitution Committee as defined in the Rule Book
n. ‘NEC’ means The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee as defined in the Rule Book
o. ‘Protected act’ has the same meaning as in the 2010 Act
p. ‘Protected racial characteristic’ means Jewish ethnicity
q. ‘Protected religion or belief characteristic’ means Judaism
r. ‘Racediscrimination’meansdirectdiscriminationor unjustified indirect race discrimination (as those terms are defined in the 2010 Act) because of the protected racial characteristic
s. ‘Religion or belief discrimination’ means direct discrimination or unjustified indirect religion or belief discrimination (as those terms are defined in the 2010 Act) because of the protected religious characteristic
t. ‘Harassment’ means harassment (as that term is defined in the 2010 Act) where the harassment relates to the protected racial characteristic
u. ‘Victimisation’ means victimisation (as that term is defined in the 2010 Act) where the protected act relates to the protected racial characteristic and/or the protected religious characteristic
v. ‘Unlawful acts’ means race discrimination and/or racial harassment and/or religion or belief discrimination and/or victimisation, as defined herein.

8. In the course of the investigation, the Commission may have regard to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and associated examples, while recognising it is a non-legally binding definition.

How to help

Campaign Against Antisemitism has invested heavily in the legal work required to produce this result, and our volunteers have spent many hundreds of hours compiling evidence.

If you feel that antisemitism is a threat to Britain’s Jews and British society as a whole, please play your part by donating or volunteering to help us. Our success depends on your help.

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Just 19% of British voters believe Labour and Corbyn are not antisemitic as over 60% condemn Corbyn’s incompetence and dishonesty on issue

A YouGov survey has found that only 19% of British voters say that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are not antisemitic.

Just 18 percent of voters say that the Labour Party does not have a problem with antisemitism, while 50 percent think that it does.

The polling shows that in the past year, approximately a further 5% of the public has lost confidence in Mr Corbyn over this matter, reducing those who support him on this issue to less than 20% of the population.

Some of the other key findings for all voters are that:

  • 80 percent say that they had seen either a little or a lot of news coverage about antisemitism in the Labour Party. Campaign Against Antisemitism has been at the forefront of exposing antisemitism in the Party in the national media.
  • 36 percent of all British voters say that Mr Corbyn is antisemitic and 28 percent say that the Labour Party is antisemitic. Only 19 percent say that neither are antisemitic.
  • 65 percent believe that Mr Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism accusations has been incompetent while only 16 per cent think that he has been competent.
  • 60 percent say that Mr Corbyn has been neither honest nor transparent in responding to accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, with only 18 percent thinking that he has been honest and transparent.
  • Only 27 percent agree that Labour MPs who are concerned about antisemitism in the Party should remain in the Party nonetheless. So far, just eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism. They have been joined by numerous councillors and members.

YouGov polled a very large sample of 5,180 British adults for the JC between 14th and 17th May for the survey.

In signs that views on antisemitism in politics have become increasingly biased, some of the responses from Labour Party voters are particularly disturbing and revealing:

  • Merely 8 percent say that Mr Corbyn and the Labour Party are antisemitic while 39 percent say that neither are antisemitic.
  • 37 percent say that Mr Corbyn has been honest and transparent in responding to accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, while 50 percent say that he has not been honest and transparent.
  • Only 12 percent think that Mr Corbyn is most to blame for the Labour’s antisemitism crisis, with 21 percent blaming Labour’s political opponents.
  • Just 20 percent think that the row over allegations of antisemitism within Labour has increased the amount of hostility Jewish people in Britain experience while 36 percent say that it has not made any difference to the level of hostility.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Labour MEP Mary Honeyball quits the Party citing leadership’s “shameful” failure to tackle antisemitism

Labour MEP, Mary Honeyball, has resigned from the Labour Party, slamming Jeremy Corbyn and the leadership’s “shameful” failure to tackle antisemitism.

Ms Honeyball is one of London’s longest serving MEPs. She has been a Labour member for 43 years, has served as a MEP from 2000 and retired at yesterday’s election.

Announcing her decision in the Evening Standard, she said: “The antisemitism currently infecting the Labour Party, I believe, derives from the Labour leadership’s animosity towards Israel primarily because the country is an ally of the United States. Although the State of Israel and the Jewish people are two completely different things, Corbyn and his allies appear to see fit to view them as virtually one and the same. Shamefully, the Labour leadership have done nothing like enough to purge the Labour Party of the racism shown towards its Jewish members.”

She also criticised Mr Corbyn for being “sympathetic” to Hizballah and Hamas.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Resignation of Theresa May unleashes wave of online abuse claiming she was “destroying Britain’s future for Israel” and controlled by “Zionist banksters”

The resignation today of British Prime Minister Theresa May has unleashed a wave of antisemitic posts on social media.

‘Syed Umar’ exclaimed “Good riddance Zionist bitch” on Twitter. Notorious antisemite, Gilad Atzmon, who humiliatingly capitulated in a libel case against Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Gideon Falter last year, predictably entered the fray and tweeted: “British Jews thank Theresa Je Suis Juif for being a dedicated Sabbos Goy [sic] and destroying Britain’s future for Israel.”

‘Melville Debyuss’ tweeted a claim that Theresa May’s departure heralded the end of the “greedy corrupt lying cheating racist Zionist terrorist war criminal Tories”, adding that he “loves” Jeremy Corbyn. In reference to the horrendous fires that have blazed in Israel, another Twitter user opined: “Israel is in flames and Theresa May is going to step down as PM??? it really is a month of blessings”.

A user named ‘Jay’ waded into a Twitter thread about her resignation: “Shuttup man, Israel is doing to the Palestinians what the Germans did to the Jews. Enough said.”

Over on Facebook, ‘Jefferson Webster’ warned: users wrote: “As one Zionist psychopathe [sic] leaves, another will take over, its [sic] all pantomine [sic] and theratre….! [sic]”

Another conspiratorial post by ‘Robert Broad’ added: “She does what she is told to do so she can achieve considerable wealth from her masters the zionist banksters we call the central bank or better the Bank of England which has nothing to do with England, is resident in a foreign country. It doesn’t even need to present accounts to the inland revenue and it is privately owned by 12 zionist families.”

The hatred was not reserved to the political left. ‘Sean Young’ of Tek Plastering Building Services claimed: “Israel is removing the right in politics, Theresa May is a Zionist and is doing her job to perfection in the destruction of those who wish to conserve the nation”

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Jeremy Corbyn defended “salient points” which were “overlooked” in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech vowing to “wipe Israel off the map” without condemning it

It has emerged that Jeremy Corbyn authored an article in which he defended “salient points” which he felt were “overlooked” in former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech vowing to “wipe Israel off the map” at an event called “The world without Zionism”. Mr Ahmadinejad was also quoted as saying that: “Anybody who recognises Israel will burn in the fire of the [Iranian] Islamic nation’s fury.”

While the speech was widely condemned, Mr Corbyn wrote in 2005 for the extreme-left Morning Star: “The opportunity provided by Ahmadinejad’s speech should be used to build dialogue with and within Iran and, of course, on the issue of Palestine. The context overlooked by the sensationalist headlines was that his speech also pointed out what Israel is doing to Palestine. All the righteous indignation never mentioned a few salient points. Israel has illegal and undeclared nuclear weapons, has not signed the non proliferation treaty and continues to develop them.”

Mr Corbyn could not have been in any doubt about the antisemitic nature of the speech, delivered as it was from behind a lectern bearing the title of the event: “The world without Zionism”, however Mr Corbyn did not include any condemnation of the speech, despite it attracting opprobrium from around the world. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, former US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and more than a dozen other civic and religious leaders joined with demonstrators outside Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York. Former British Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown also condemned the speech, using an address to the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in 2008 to say: “To those who believe that threatening statements fall upon indifferent ears we say in one voice: it is totally abhorrent for the President of Iran to call for Israel to be wiped from the map of the world.”

Mr Corbyn’s article was unearthed by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

In addition to seeking a new Holocaust by calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state, Mr Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust was a “myth” and a “lie” and hosted a Holocaust denial conference in 2006 attended by David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

The latest revelation of Mr Corbyn’s disturbing writings comes just a few days after Hamas, the terrorist organisation which seeks the murder of all Jews worldwide, issued a statement to “salute” Jeremy Corbyn for supporting last weekend’s antisemitic march through London. It said that it had “great respect and appreciation [sic] the solidarity message sent by the British Labor [sic] Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn.”

Mr Corbyn was formerly paid tens of thousands of pounds to appear on Press TV, the Iranian-run channel, even after it was banned in the UK.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Hamas issues statement in “salute” to Jeremy Corbyn, noting its “great respect and appreciation” for his support of antisemitic march

Hamas, the terrorist organisation which seeks the murder of all Jews worldwide, has issued a statement in which it “salutes” Jeremy Corbyn for supporting this weekend’s antisemitic march through London. It said that it had “great respect and appreciation [sic] the solidarity message sent by the British Labor [sic] Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn”.

Only one leader of a British political party could expect to be “saluted” by Hamas, the genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisation. Clearly Hamas feels that when it comes to Jews, Jeremy Corbyn is a brother in arms. Who could say that they are wrong after he gave his fulsome backing to this weekend’s chilling antisemitic rally, attended by both the leader of the National Front and known members of the Muslim Brotherhood?

Almost 55,000 people have signed our petition stating that Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite and unfit for public office.

Hamas’ statement, which was first reported by Mail Online Global Editor Jake Wallis-Simons, comes in response to Mr Corbyn’s decision to warmly back an antisemitic march through London at the weekend. He sent a statement to be read out by Diane Abbott, which was received with cheers by the crowd, amongst which were Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, National Front leader Tony Martin, and known members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The crowd began cheering at the mere mention of Mr Corbyn’s name and applause and cheering continued as his statement was read. The cheers were videoed by a Twitter user who is well-known to Campaign Against Antisemitism for sending Jews abuse online.

The march, entitled the “National Demonstration for Palestine: Exist! Resist! Return!”, was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), of which Mr Corbyn is patron. Mr Corbyn has long championed the PSC, attending many of its events, including one of which at which he was filmed applauding antisemitic poetry.

Marchers also cheered as one speaker told them that American Rabbis fuelled the neo-Nazis who shot and killed worshippers at synagogues in the United States, and that Jewish organisations and leaders were “in the gutter with…rats” and “part of the problem”. The speaker was then put in charge of antisemitism training at an official Labour Party event.

Volunteers from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit went into the thick of the protest to gather evidence which our Crime Unit is already reviewing.

Under a heavy police presence, protesters assembled outside the BBC headquarters and marched to Whitehall, the heart of British democracy, via iconic Regent Street. The BBC is just a short walk from Central Synagogue where many Jews were gathered for the Sabbath.

Various placards and badges on brazen display drew upon antisemitic conspiracy theories. One large placard declared that “Israel provokes antisemitism”. A badge emblazoned with a Star of David with a Nazi swastika in its midst proclaimed “Down with Zionism”. Another placard repeated the rhyme frequently chanted by the marchers; “From the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, Palestine will be free”, which only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with a Palestinian state, and is thus an attempt to uniquely deny Jews the right to self-determination. One marcher held aloft a placard suggesting that the BBC is controlled by the Israeli Prime Minister, whilst others hinted strongly at blood libels, carrying a coffin emblazoned with a claim that “Israelis execute Palestinian children” while another held a placard showing a diamond dripping with blood, stating that Israel exports “blood diamonds”, a phrase normally used to refer to diamonds mined by war criminals, usually using child slave labour.

The leader of the National Front, Tony Martin, attended the march, as did known Islamist extremists spotted by our volunteers, including one who was wearing the emblem of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Activists from “Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism” or LAZIR, founded by Pete Gregson, who was reportedly expelled from the GMB Union over his claims that Israel “exaggerates” the Nazi Germany’s genocide of six million Jews “for political ends” and who seeks to drive “Zionism out of the Labour Party”, handed out leaflets claiming that Zionism, the movement to grant Jews self-determination, is “racism”.

Marching alongside them was the antisemitism-denial group, the sham Jewish Voice for Labour. Its Secretary, Glyn Secker, made a speech which was rapturously received, claiming that Jews were “in the gutter” and “part of the problem”.

Holding American Rabbis responsible for fuelling the neo-Nazis behind antisemitic terrorism, including the fatal terrorist attack on Poway synagogue, Mr Secker claimed that they were “unleashing the extreme-right to win key votes in marginal states which determine the presidency”.

He then called 119 Labour MPs who are “friends of Israel” a “fifth column in the Labour Party led by [Dame Margaret] Hodge and [Tom] Watson and the Jewish Labour Movement.” Upon hearing the name of the Jewish Labour Movement, the crowd booed loudly.

“What on earth are Jews doing in the gutter with these rats?” Mr Secker asked, after claiming that the “Zionist Federation embraces the [far-right] English Defence League”, which is a fabrication. The crowd responded with calls of “Ban then from the Labour Party”.

Mr Secker then asked when Jews would fight fascism, before building to a crescendo: “Here’s a warning to the [British] Jewish leadership, while you foment your campaign of allegations of antisemitism against Corbyn and the left to silence Israel’s critics, while you cry wolf month after month, year after year in the Labour Party and remain blind to the explosion of the far-right and Islamophobia, you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” The crowd cheered, by Mr Secker continued: “You serve to protect the poison that would destroy both our freedom and yours. Well brothers and sisters, we are on the side of the Palestinians. We are on the side of the freedom marchers of ghetto Gaza.”

Labour leaders previously intervened to stop Mr Secker from being punished under the Party’s disciplinary process.

Following his speech, Mr Secker has been put in charge of antisemitism training at an official Labour Party event.

Ahed Tamimi, who served almost eight months in prison in Israel for assault, was the star attraction and addressed the crowd briefly. She finished her speech by repeating the antisemitic chant: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit saw no attempt by stewards from the PSC to remonstrate with any of the speakers or marchers.

Richard Burgon, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, who previously claimed that “Zionism is the enemy of peace” having told a court under oath that he had said no such thing, also addressed the crowd. The fact that Mr Burgon and Ms Abbott, such senior Labour politicians, attended an event which saw widespread antisemitism should be a cause for considerable concern.

The marchers, however, did not have the streets of central London to themselves. A brave group of anti-terrorism activists waving Israeli flags confronted the marchers.

The protest was organised by the PSC, Stop the War Coalition, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al- Aqsa and the Muslim Association of Britain. It was supported by the pro-Corbyn Momentum faction of the Labour Party as well as trade unions Unite, PCS, Unison, GMB, RMT, ASLEF, UCU, NEU, TSSA, CWU, and other organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Amos Trust charity.

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst supporters of the PSC. Just this week, an Evening Standard investigation uncovered supporters of the PSC sharing antisemitic posts comparing Israelis to Nazis. The shocking antisemitic posts reportedly included a cartoon comparing Israeli Jews with white power neo-Nazis and an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bathing in Palestinian blood, posing with Adolf Hitler.

The march was a clear example of the coalition of antisemitism that British Jews now find themselves the target of. The far-left, the far-right and Islamist extremists clearly all share a common hatred of Jews.

We are now reviewing the evidence that we gathered at the march. Where crimes were committed, we will work with the authorities to ensure that there are arrests and prosecutions.

As for Jeremy Corbyn, his actions clearly show that he is an antisemite who is unfit for office.

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Glyn Secker, who said Jewish organisations are “in the gutter” and “part of the problem”, put in charge of antisemitism training at official Labour event

Glyn Secker, the Secretary of the the antisemitism-denial group, the sham Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), who said that Jewish organisations are “in the gutter” and “part of the problem”, will reportedly be giving training on antisemitism to Labour members at an official Labour Party event.

According to the JC, an advertisement on Labour’s official website confirms that Mr Secker will be giving a presentation to Reading and District Labour Party on 30th May. He will deliver the talk in his role as Secretary of JVL.

On Saturday, Mr Secker made a speech at the “National Demonstration for Palestine” in central London which was rapturously received, claiming that Jews were “in the gutter” and “part of the problem”.

Holding American Rabbis responsible for fuelling the neo-Nazis behind antisemitic terrorism, including the fatal terrorist attack on Poway synagogue, Mr Secker claimed that they were “unleashing the extreme-right to win key votes in marginal states which determine the presidency”.

He then called 119 Labour MPs who are “friends of Israel” a “fifth column in the Labour Party led by [Dame Margaret] Hodge and [Tom] Watson and the Jewish Labour Movement.” Upon hearing the name of the Jewish Labour Movement, the crowd booed loudly.

“What on earth are Jews doing in the gutter with these rats?” Mr Secker asked, after claiming that the “Zionist Federation embraces the [far-right] English Defence League”, which is a fabrication. The crowd responded with calls of “Ban then from the Labour Party”.

Mr Secker then asked when Jews would fight fascism, before building to a crescendo: “Here’s a warning to the [British] Jewish leadership, while you foment your campaign of allegations of antisemitism against Corbyn and the left to silence Israel’s critics, while you cry wolf month after month, year after year in the Labour Party and remain blind to the explosion of the far-right and Islamophobia, you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” The crowd cheered, by Mr Secker continued: “You serve to protect the poison that would destroy both our freedom and yours. Well brothers and sisters, we are on the side of the Palestinians. We are on the side of the freedom marchers of ghetto Gaza.”

The protest saw open antisemitism from attendees. Numerous antisemitic banners and placards were carried through the streets, including one declaring that “Israel provokes antisemitism.” In attendance were senior Labour MPs, known members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Tony Martin, the leader of the neo-Nazi National Front.

Labour leaders previously intervened to stop Mr Secker from being punished under the Party’s disciplinary process.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Almost 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Former Labour Minister Bridget Prentice quits Party over “shameful” and “mealy mouthed” failure to tackle antisemitism

Bridget Prentice, the former Labour minister and MP for Lewisham East, has resigned from the Party over its failure to tackle antisemitism.

In a letter posted on Twitter, Ms Prentice wrote: “Over the past three years I have watched in horror as Jewish members have begged for support against the growth of antisemitism both within and out with the Party. Mealy-mouthed words have replaced what should have been strong and determined condemnation of bigots and bullies. The response was slow, reluctant and inadequate…For a pregnant woman MP [Luciana Berger, who is Jewish] to be bullied out of the Party is shameful and embarrassing.”

In response, a Labour Party spokesperson issued the hackneyed and meaningless lie that: “The Labour Party is absolutely committed to challenging and campaigning against antisemitism in all its forms and wherever it occurs.”

Ms Prentice, a Labour Party member for 45 years, served as a Labour MP for Lewisham East from 1992 to 2010 as well as serving as a government whip and a junior minister.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Almost 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Leak shows Labour took months to act over antisemitism cases, and waited a year to launch formal investigation into comments by Ken Livingstone

BuzzFeed News has obtained hundreds of internal Labour Party e-mails revealing that Labour’s Compliance Unit took took months to act over antisemitism cases, including procrastinating for a year before eventually launching a formal investigation into comments by the disgraced former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

The e-mails were passed to BuzzFeed News by a former Labour Party official and a member of the Labour International group, who both said that they wanted to expose failings in the Compliance Unit’s response to antisemitism complaints before Jennie Formby became General Secretary in April 2018.

According to BuzzFeed News, e-mails between two former senior members of the Labour Compliance Unit, Sam Matthews and John Stolliday, and other Party officials also show that the unit took more than a year to suspend a member who defended fascist participants in the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, and eight months to suspend a council candidate who posted an articleclaiming that the Holocaust was a “hoax”.

In the case of Mr Livingstone, BuzzFeed News revealed that Labour’s Compliance Unit failed to launch a formal investigation over comments he made while he was suspended.

According to the e-mails, in January 2018 concerns were raised with Laura Murray that Mr Livingstone was due to be readmitted to the Party in April that year, as his suspension for his comments claiming that Hitler supported Zionism was due to come to an end.

Ms Murray is the disgraced senior parliamentary aide to Mr Corbyn who was formally appointed to lead the Labour Party’s disciplinary process. She was exposed for intervening to prevent the suspension of alleged antisemite Pat Sheerin from the Labour Party. In leaked e-mails, she said that she intervened on behalf of Mr Corbyn himself.

The e-mails show that Labour’s Compliance Unit had received a number of further complaints about comments made by Mr Livingstone in interviews after his hearing at the Party’s National Constitutional Committee (NCC) in April 2017, but failed to order a formal investigation in the nine months that followed.

Compliance Unit official John Stolliday confirmed in an e-mail to Ms Murray that: “A second suspension was not applied, so he will come back into membership in April. The Party received a small number of complaints about his comments after the NCC hearing. We haven’t formally opened a new investigation yet, and that is a conversation we will have over here.” He added that the situation meant that Mr Livingstone was due to be “unsuspended shortly before the local elections.” He said that he recognised this was “not ideal in terms of campaigning.”

Ms Murray then asked Mr Stolliday if Mr Livingstone’s existing suspension could be extended. She wrote that it would be “disastrous for him to be reinstated as a member just two weeks before the local elections” and requested that the compliance unit inform her of its decision.

Yet Mr Livingstone faced no action until March when he eventually had his suspension extended, nearly a whole year after the new complaints were received and two months after Ms Murray’s request.

The former Labour official who passed BuzzFeed News the e-mails claimed: “Even after Laura Murray’s intervention, it still took the Compliance unit another two months to extend Ken Livingstone’s suspension, and that was nearly a year after they received the complaints. All the time the possibility of Livingstone being reinstated meant the party was being dragged through the mud in the press.”

In response to this expose, a Labour Party source told BuzzFeed News that since becoming General Secretary, Jennie Formby has sped up the process for dealing with antisemitism complaints. They claim that between April 2018 and January 2019, 96 members were handed suspensions and 12 were expelled.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Andrew Murray, close adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, authored article claiming roots of 9/11 lay in “Zionist colonialism”

It has emerged that in 2005, Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration.

The comments, which appeared in an article that he wrote for the extreme-left Morning Star newspaper, have been exposed by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

Mr Murray, who is the Unite union’s Chief of Staff, suggested that the 9/11 attacks were a criminal act rather than an act of war. He continued: “Even if one considers it a war, only the most Anglo-Saxon-centric commentator could consider it the start of the war. For millions around the world, the ‘war’ began with the Anglo-French seizure of Arab lands as the Ottoman empire rotted, with the Balfour declaration in 1917 giving the green light to Zionist colonialism.”

In March this year, The Times reported that Mr Murray remarked in a 2008 book that: “Hitler is uniquely excoriated because his victims were almost all white Europeans.”

Mr Murray sparked controversy when he reportedly linked the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing to UK foreign policy. He said that he condemned attack “without reservation” but argued British action abroad had “contributed to the environment in which these sorts of atrocities take place.”

Mr Murray also reportedly took an interest in lifting the suspension of activist, Glyn Secker, who was accused of antisemitism, according to leaked e-mails. According to The Sunday Times, Mr Secker was being investigated for joining the antisemitism-infested Palestine Live Facebook group, whose members had posted conspiracy theories about supposed Israeli involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks, but Mr Corbyn’s Director of Strategy and Communications, Seamus Milne, told Party officials to reinstate Mr Secker. Mr Murray said that Mr Corbyn himself was “interested in this one.”

Mr Murray’s daughter, Laura, is the disgraced senior parliamentary aide to Mr Corbyn who was formally appointed to lead the Labour Party’s disciplinary process. She was exposed for intervening to prevent the suspension of alleged antisemite Pat Sheerin from the Labour Party. In leaked e-mails, she said that she intervened on behalf of Mr Corbyn himself.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Disgraced journalist and Momentum activist Greg Hadfield supported Alex Braithwaite during suspension by Labour over conspiracy theory tweets about Israel and “Rothschilds”

Disgraced Labour activist Greg Hadfield, has reportedly been caught supporting Labour candidate Alex Braithwaite, who was suspended from the Party for a series of tweets which included conspiracy theories about Israel and the Rothschild family.

According to the Brighton and Hove News, Mr Hadfield, who has twice been suspended from the Labour Party, posted a series of tweets endorsing Ms Braithwaite in the local council elections after her suspension.

Mr Hadfield was first suspended in 2014 for 11 months over claims he had bullied fellow members, including jumping out at Labour’s South East Regional Director from behind a bin. He was suspended again in October 2016 for alleged intimidating behaviour, and only reinstated in February this year.

During this time, the paper wrote that he remained a member of Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, even serving on its steering committee and helping to draw up its slates when candidates for this year’s elections were selected.

Ms Braithwaite was suspended for a series of allegedly antisemitic tweets which included conspiracy theories about Israel and the Rothschilds.

The Daily Telegraph revealed that she shared a video which claimed that Israel was deporting “African migrants” to protect the “Israeli bloodline”. She also circulated an article which claimed that German police officers had marched against a “Rothschild European Central Bank”. It went on to claim the Rothschild family had been “responsible for almost every war on earth”, and were not “Jewish” but rather “satanist” and “the Illuminati.”

Amanda Bishop, another Labour member in the area, was suspended last week when she responded to Ms Braithwaite’s suspension by calling for a march on Hove synagogue. The Labour Party reportedly took ten days to launch an investigation into Ms Bishop’s comments.

Mr Hadfield, a former Daily Mail and Telegraph journalist, told Brighton and Hove News: “I was proud and privileged to support Labour Party candidates across Brighton and Hove, including in Wish. Alex Braithwaite is a black, feminist socialist — and one of the kindest, most gentle comrades I have ever met.” He added that charges of antisemitism “should not be used as casual abuse — for self-serving reasons — by often-anonymous, anti-Corbyn supporters of Peter Kyle, the MP for Hove.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.

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Michael McGough, former treasurer of Brexit Party, who accused some Jewish politicians of having “shallow UK roots”, is still a director of the Party

Michael McGough, the former treasurer of the Brexit Party who reportedly left over social media posts, including posts accusing some Jewish politicians of having “shallow UK roots”, is still listed as a director of the organisation.

Mr McGough was reportedly removed as treasurer a month ago after posting what the Party called “unacceptable statements.” A Party statement at the time said that he would no longer have any role in the organisation.

According to The Guardian, which exposed the posts, in some messages, Mr McGough referred to Ed and David Miliband and Peter Mandelson as having “shallow UK roots” or being “devoid of UK roots.”

To portray Jews as being foreign to Britain or their home country is a common antisemitic trope. It has echoes of Jeremy Corbyn’s comment that Zionists “don’t understand English irony.”

The Guardian reported that one post from Mr McGough in 2017 called David Miliband the “son of an east European communist now milking it from a charity in New York and devoid of UK roots.” Another message said that: “The Miliband dudes and Mandelson have the shortest of roots. Transient folk they have no loyalty to the UK.”

One reply by another user reportedly told Mr McGough that he was on “slightly dangerous ground”. McGough replied that: “True, but there is a valid point to be made even if it seems offensive. It is not dissimilar to Lord Tebbit’s cricket test.” A post about Mandelson read that: “I resent being called racist by an old queen with shallow UK roots.”

Another senior member, Catherine Blaiklock, the first leader of the Party, reportedly resigned over a series of anti-Islam messages but also remains listed as a director.

Both Mr McGough and Ms Blaiklock were longtime UKIP members and moved to the Brexit Party with Nigel Farage, the Party leader and fellow director.

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Evening Standard investigation uncovers antisemitic posts by Palestine Solidarity Campaign supporters comparing Israelis to Nazis

An Evening Standard investigation has uncovered supporters of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) sharing antisemitic posts comparing Israelis to Nazis.

The shocking antisemitic posts reportedly included:

  • A cartoon comparing Israeli Jews with white power neo-Nazis.
  • An image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bathing in Palestinian blood posing with Adolf Hitler.
  • A photo of Palestinians queuing next to a border wall with the words: “21st century concentrations camp? No, just Palestinians coming home from their Israeli slave jobs.”
  • A cartoon in which neo-Nazis with swastikas are likened to Jewish men with an Israeli flag screaming “Kill all Arabs.”
  • A graphic comparing Israel and the Nazi regime, with a swastika flag.
  • A graphic meme that compared victims in Buchenwald concentration camp to an image of a West Bank checkpoint.

Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is antisemitic.

Another post attacked Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson and labelled him an “agent” of the Israeli state.

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 also exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst supporters of the PSC.

The PSC told the Evening Standard that it: “takes accusations of antisemitism very seriously and has procedures in place to address such allegations…including the implementation of disciplinary sanctions”. It said its “values of anti-racism and anti-discrimination” are reflected in its guidance for members.”

Jeremy Corbyn is an honorary patron of the PSC and has even applauded antisemitic poetry at one of their events.

The PSC has called a demonstration in London this weekend which will be monitored by Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit.

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In Holocaust video featuring five UK Prime Ministers, Tony Blair says “poison” of antisemitism has returned to “political mainstream” in rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour

In an apparent rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the the “poison” of antisemitism has returned in a rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

In powerful comments in a video in support of the new National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, Mr Blair said that: “Antisemitism and hate did not end in 1945. Unfortunately today some of this poison is back from the political fringe to parts of the political mainstream.”

He added that: “So, it’s absolutely right that this new national memorial is situated right next to Parliament. So we can show what happens when racism and prejudice go unchecked.”

Prime Minister Theresa May appeared alongside Mr Blair and the three other living former UK Prime Ministers, Sir John Major, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, in the video.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.

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Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism launches to drive “Zionism out of the Labour Party” and fight antisemitism, but not the “fraudulent” kind

A new campaign group, “Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism”, or LAZIR, has been set up to support Jeremy Corbyn and campaign for the International Definition of Antisemitism to be dropped and for the Jewish Labour Movement to be thrown out of the Labour Party. The group’s logo is a laser beam smashing the logo of a Jewish Labour group.

The founder appears to be Pete Gregson, who was reportedly expelled by the GMB Union after he claimed that Israel was a “racist endeavour” that “exaggerates” the Nazi Germany’s genocide of six million Jews “for political ends.” According to a post on his Facebook page, Labour Against the Witch Hunt, are seeking to expel him from their group. If he is expelled, Mr Gregson has vowed to hold a launch event for LAZIR outside Labour Headquarters in London.

Interestingly, this is the second time that Labour Against the Witch Hunt has split, the first time being when Gerry Downing was expelled and founded Labour Against the Witch Hunt Within Labour Against the Witch Hunt, both of which met at opposite sides of the same pub at the same time. Mr Downing, who was himself expelled from the Labour Party due to his views on the Holocaust, now appears to be advising Mr Gregson on policy for LAZIR.

LAZIR, which is not to be confused with the villages of Lazir in Iran and Azerbaijan, the popular Lazir karaoke bar in Mexico, or the very catchy Lazir Lazir song, has already attracted thousands of supporters, according to a petition which was launched to support the group on April Fools’ Day.

Due to the timing of the petition and farcical policies of the group, Campaign Against Antisemitism initially wondered whether it had been launched as some kind of satirical joke or a prank. Indeed the petition includes a call “to get Zionism out of the Labour Party, because Zionism is racism” and declares its dedication to one “Jeremy Corbynto”, whom we could not identify despite an exhaustive online search, including in Italian and Maltese.

Another policy of LAZIR has caused controversy even amongst antisemitism deniers within Labour. LAZIR called for the Jewish Labour Movement to “be disaffiliated from the Labour Party and replaced with Jewish Voice for Labour” but even the sham Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) group has distanced itself from them, posting on Facebook that they have “become aware of an initiative called Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR) which has made reference to the role of JVL. We wish to make clear that we were not consulted on the use of our name and are not associated with this venture.”

However, British Jews can rest assured that LAZIR has also pledged to fight antisemitism, just not the “fraudulent” kind.

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Jeremy Corbyn joins his most rabid supporters in claiming he is victim of “mischievous” political smear campaign plotted by Jewish peer and Rupert Murdoch

In what seems to be a major shift in policy, instead of his usual protestations of innocence when challenged with examples of his own antisemitism, Jeremy Corbyn has now gone a step further claimed to be the victim of a “mischievous” political attack orchestrated by Jewish peer Lord Finkelstein, plotted secretly with media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Mr Corbyn was referring to the furore over his 3,500 detailed foreword to Imperialism: A Study penned by economist John Atkinson Hobson in 1902. The book contains numerous attacks on the supposed wrongdoing of Jews, who are described as a “single and peculiar race” accused of plotting to subjugate mankind through financial control, but Mr Corbyn did not once criticise these antisemitic conspiracy theories, instead lavishing glowing praise on the book, describing it as “great”, “remarkable”, “brilliant”, “very powerful”, “valid”, “correct” and “very prescient”.

In defending himself against the accusation that he had yet again praised an antisemite, Mr Corbyn went far beyond his usual protestations of innocence, writing in a letter: “This accusation is the latest in a series of equally ill-founded accusations of anti-Jewish racism that Labour’s political opponents have made against me. I note that the Hobson [foreword] story was written by a Conservative Party peer [Lord Finkelstein] in a newspaper whose editorial policy, and owner [Rupert Murdoch], have long been hostile to Labour. At a time when Jewish communities in the UK, and indeed across Europe, feel under attack, it is a matter of great regret that the issue of antisemitism is often politicised in this way.”

This statement is a clear sign that Mr Corbyn has decided to join in with his most rabid supporters in claiming that British Jews are wilfully playing a part in a political plot to smear him as a racist. In the past, when under pressure, he would occasionally rebuke his supporters for claiming that antisemitism allegations were merely political smears. Now he joins in with them.

Just in the past week, in addition to learning of his foreword to Mr Hobson’s antisemitic book, it has also come to light that Mr Corbyn claimed that Israel has “control” over US foreign policy and has secret “unbelievably high levels of influence” over the British media. These revelations merely add to the already considerable weight of evidence that Mr Corbyn himself is an antisemite.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.

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CAA seeking explanation for weak response to discovery that academics paid by Commission for Countering Extremism tweeted antisemitic material

Two academics paid up to £10,000 each to advise the Commission for Countering Extremism have posted antisemitic material online, including that Israel is in an “alliance with Al Qaeda”, according to The Sunday Times.

Professor Tahir Abbas, who holds a post at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University in the Netherlands, reportedly tweeted that Labour’s problem with antisemitism had been exaggerated, and that the “fear of antisemitism is greater than the reality”, and that the issue had been used to “target” Jeremy Corbyn.

The second academic, Dr Sadek Hamid, retweeted an article claiming that the “Israel lobby” had “manufactured” the Labour Party’s antisemitism crisis. His account claims that his retweets are “not endorsements”.

The academics both edited Political Muslims, and recently spoke together at an event organised by the notorious Islamic Human Rights Commission, which organises the annual “Al Quds Day” parade through London, which has traditionally been a show of support for Hizballah, the genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisation, support for which has now been made illegal in the UK following years of campaigning by Campaign Against Antisemitism and our allies.

Speaking at the event, Dr Hamid said that he had taken his role with the Commission to help “dismantle” Prevent, the Government’s counter-extremism programme. Speaking alongside Dr Hamid, Professor Abbas reportedly said that Muslim radicalisation was “natural”, given the “widening inequality” facing British Muslims and that “being radical by itself is not necessarily a problem”, although violent radicalisation was.

The Sunday Times claims that an official at the Commission, Euan Neill, said that the academics’ opinions were “inevitable among some of the people” that the Commission worked with.

Sara Khan, the Commissioner told the newspaper: “Having been made aware of these abhorrent tweets, I have already challenged the academics. They both stated they rejected antisemitism…”

Professor Abbas told The Sunday Times that he was not an anti-semite and had deleted the tweet, which he said was “sloppily worded”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has confidence in Sara Khan and the weak response to this matter is uncharacteristic. We are seeking clarification from her as to why she has not responded more forcefully.

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In outrageous statement, Labour claims that by pointing out Jeremy Corbyn’s use of an antisemitic trope, CAA is reinforcing antisemitism

In an outrageous statement, Labour has claimed that it if you point out an antisemitic trope, that is reinforcing antisemitism. This statement sets a new low in Labour Party responses to accusations of antisemitism.

Labour was responding to the revelation yesterday that in 2009 Jeremy Corbyn authored an article in which he claimed that a decision by the BBC not to broadcast a 2009 appeal to send money to Gaza demonstrated the “unbelievably high levels of influence that Israel’s government appears to have in the upper echelons of parts of the media.” He also wrote that Israel has “control of US foreign policy.” The comments which appeared in an article that he wrote for the extreme-left Morning Star were exposed by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

Responding to Mr Corbyn’s comments about media control, a spokesperson for the Labour Party said that: “The suggestion that Jeremy was talking about Jewish people, when he commented on the greater level of media influence the Israeli government has than the Palestinian leadership, is entirely false, and itself relies on a damaging antisemitic trope.”

The accusation of Jews controlling foreign policy and the media is one of the most well known antisemitic conspiracy theories. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

It is very clear to us that Mr Corbyn was deploying an antisemitic trope, and the Labour Party’s attempt to blame us for calling him out on it is appalling.

The notion that the Israeli government has “control of US foreign policy” and “unbelievably high levels of influence” over the media is a conspiracy theory drawn straight from racist myths about Jewish power. Mr Corbyn has a history of endorsing such conspiracy theories, whether he is accusing “the hand of Israel” of being behind Islamist attacks in Egypt, or writing his glowing foreword to a tome alleging that a “peculiar race” has successfully plotted to control Europe. Due to the weight of evidence, we have had no option other than to conclude that the reason Mr Corbyn promotes these views is that he himself is an antisemite.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Jeremy Corbyn claimed Israel has “control of US foreign policy” and “unbelievably high levels of influence…in the upper echelons of parts of the media”

It has emerged that in 2009, Jeremy Corbyn authored an article in which he claimed that a decision by the BBC not to broadcast a 2009 appeal to send money to Gaza demonstrated the “unbelievably high levels of influence that Israel’s government appears to have in the upper echelons of parts of the media.” He also believed that Israel has “control of US foreign policy”.

The comments which appeared in an article that he wrote for the extreme-left Morning Star have been exposed by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

The accusation of Jews controlling foreign policy and the media is one of the most well known antisemitic conspiracy theories. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

The notion that the Israeli government has “control of US foreign policy” and “unbelievably high levels of influence” over the media is a conspiracy theory drawn straight from racist myths about Jewish power. Jeremy Corbyn has a history of endorsing such conspiracy theories, whether he is accusing “the hand of Israel” of being behind Islamist attacks in Egypt, or writing his glowing foreword to a tome alleging that a “peculiar race” has successfully plotted to control Europe. Due to the weight of evidence, we have had no option other than to conclude that the reason Mr Corbyn promotes these views is that he himself is an antisemite.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan photographed posing with Labour Councillor Nisar Malik whom he criticised for antisemitic posts, including blaming “Zionist Jews” for 9/11

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been caught posing in a photo last night with Nisar Malik, a Labour Councillor in Hounslow, whom he criticised for antisemitic posts on Facebook, including blaming “Zionist Jews” for 9/11.

Mr Khan officially opened Hounslow House, the local council’s new headquarters, and posed next to Cllr Malik and his colleagues. The photo is still on the Mayor’s Twitter account.

Cllr Malik, a Labour Councillor in Hounslow since 2014 and the former Mayor from 2015 to 2016, has breached the International Definition of Antisemitism on numerous occasions.

On 29th April 2016, he shared a post on his Facebook page entitled ‘Ex London Mayor Ken Livingstone now accused of being anti-semitic’ [sic] which contains the following comment attributed to Ken Livingstone: “There’s been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel Lobby to smear anyone who criticizes Israeli policy as anti-Semitic [sic].”

On 12th April 2018, he shared a video featuring a tweet which asserted that a captured ISIS commander was in fact a Mossad agent. He stated: [a] “Israeli and American created ISIS”, and added: [b] “How do we know if they are not the same countries dropping chemical bombs and blaming Asad [sic]??”

Cllr Malik posted on Facebook expressing his doubts over events surrounding a chemical attack in Syria and claiming that America’s agenda was to “split Syria to please the Zaniest [Zionist] government of Israel.”

On 16th April 2018, he shared a post on Facebook alleging that “America, France and the UK don’t want to talk about Palestine [sic] hardship…every week we go through the remembrance of Holocaust and we should. But why there is no debate on Israel and Palestine? The Zaniest [Zionist] Lobby controls all the media and they don’t allow anyone to discuss the big elephant in the room.”

On 7th August 2018, he commented on his Facebook page: ”The Labour Party or Corbin [sic] are absolutely not ani-semantic [sic]. This is all propaganda incase [sic] if the general election is called soon because the prime minister is in [sic] big mess.”

On 29th August 2018, it was reported that, in August 2017, Cllr Malik had shared a video by the preacher, nationalist and leader of the Nation of Islam, Mr Louis Farrakhan, in which Mr Farrakhan is reported as saying: “It is now becoming apparent that there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks”. It was also reported that Cllr Malik had written above this post: “Is this true, do you think?”

Cllr Malik reportedly removed the Facebook posts and was “reported through the Labour Party disciplinary process.”

After seeing some of the Facebook posts, Mayor Khan told LBC that: “Some of those remarks are clearly antisemitic. I think the Labour Party should be investigating those comments speedily and if those complaints are upheld then anybody with those views should be kicked out of the Labour Party.”

It is appalling to see that Cllr Malik is still enjoying an active political life.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Lord Prescott reportedly asked Jewish journalist what she “can do about Israel” when asked about Labour antisemitism

Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 and Labour MP for Hull East, has reportedly ranted aggressively at a Jewish journalist when asked about Labour antisemitism, claiming that Labour’s antisemitism crisis under Jeremy Corbyn was all “about Israel” and demanded to know what she “can do about Israel”.

Following an interview to promote Channel 5’s new series, British Made With John Prescott, a well-established reporter who wishes to remain anonymous, reportedly asked for Lord Prescott’s opinion on how best to resolve Labour antisemitism. She reportedly told him that she was a British Jew and that she was very concerned by the issue.

However according to reports in the JC, Lord Prescott responded: “Is there anything you can do about Israel and its behaviour?” He continued, in what the journalist and witnesses described to the JC as an aggressive tone: “All of this is about Israel — dead children — settlers on someone else’s land.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism considers Lord Prescott’s outburst to be antisemitic. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, which the Labour Party has adopted, “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.

Shocked and upset, the journalist reportedly left the room at Channel 5’s head office in Camden, north London, and was consoled by colleagues. The exchange took place in front of other Channel 5 staff and it is not said whether they intervened.

Channel 5 declined to comment to the JC but sources at the channel said Lord Prescott’s comments were “a private exchange” with the journalist, after the interview had been completed and did not represent the views of the channel. When asked for a comment, Lord Prescott said: “F*** off.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism is utterly disgusted by Lord Prescott’s antisemitic outburst, which comes as further proof that the Labour Party is rotting from the head. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, antisemitism has become rife in the Party, with the disciplinary process that is supposed to punish antisemitism and keep it out of the Party going into meltdown. Lord Prescott should doubtless have little fear of repercussions from within the Party. That is why it is so crucial that the Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Jeremy Corbyn’s glowing foreword for book claiming banks and press are controlled by “a single and peculiar race” is yet further evidence that he is an antisemite

It has emerged that Jeremy Corbyn wrote a glowing foreword to a book which argued that the banks and the press are controlled by “a single and peculiar race.” Mr Corbyn praised the book as “brilliant”, “correct and prescient” and a “great tome.”

The foreword written by Mr Corbyn was uncovered by The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein. In 2011, Mr Corbyn agreed to endorse a new edition of Imperialism: A Study which was written by economist John Atkinson Hobson in 1902.

In the book, Mr Hobson asked: “Does anyone seriously suppose that a great war could be undertaken by any European state, or a great state loan subscribed, if the house of Rothschild and its connections set their face against it?” This clearly invokes the antisemitic Rothschild conspiracy theory. The Rothschilds established themselves as a wealthy family of bankers in the early nineteenth century. They appear in many anti-Jewish conspiracy theories as a sinister, controlling force.

In another tract, he wrote that: “United by the strongest bonds of organisation, always in closest and quickest touch with one as other, situated in the very heart of the business capital of every state, controlled, so far as Europe is concerned, by men of a single and peculiar race, who have behind them many centuries of financial experience, they are in a unique position to control the policy of nations.”

Mr Hobson went on to say that: “there is not a war, a revolution, an anarchist assassination, or any other public shock, which is not gainful to these men; they are harpies who suck their gains from every new forced expenditure and every sudden disturbance of public credit”.

He also argued that: “the direct influence exercised by great financial houses in ‘high politics’ is supported by the control which they exercise over the body of public opinion through the press”.

According to The Times, Mr Corbyn wrote in his foreword: “what is brilliant, and very controversial at the time, is his [Hobson’s] analysis of the pressures that were hard at work in pushing for a vast national effort, in grabbing new outposts of Empire on distant islands and shores.” He added that: “Hobson’s railing against the commercial interests that fuel the role of the popular press with tales of imperial might, that then lead on to racist caricatures of African and Asian peoples, was both correct and prescient”.

Central to Mr Hobson’s analysis of the “pressures that were hard at work” were the finance houses supposedly controlled by Jews. Mr Hobson wrote that “These great businesses — banking, booking, bill discounting, loan floating, company promoting — form the central ganglion of international capitalism.”

Henry Zeffman, also writing in The Times, pointed out that Mr Hobson’s antisemitism was well-known and central to his theories, for example in another book, The War in South Africa: Its Causes and Effects, released two years earlier in 1900, Mr Hobson blamed “a small group of international financiers, chiefly German in origin and Jewish in race” for the Boer War. He added that “the rich and powerful liquor trade…is entirely in the hands of Jews…the stock exchange is needless to say, mostly Jewish…the press of Johannesburg is chiefly their property.”

It has also emerged that Mr Corbyn was a guest speaker at a launch for the republication of Mr Hobson’s book.

Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North tweeted that: “My advice to any Labour MP today: refuse to defend Jeremy Corbyn lauding a book containing classic antisemitic tropes. If he wants to defend the indefensible he should go on the airwaves and defend himself. He has a responsibility to explain himself.” He was responding to the fact that Rebecca Long-Bailey had responded to a question about whether Mr Corbyn is an antisemite on BBC Radio 4 by laughing.

A Labour Party spokesman told The Times that: “Jeremy praised the Liberal Hobson’s century-old classic study of imperialism in Africa and Asia. Similarly to other books of its era, Hobson’s work contains outdated and offensive references and observations, and Jeremy completely rejects the antisemitic elements of his analysis.”

This latest revelation is yet further proof that Mr Corbyn is an antisemite.

Under his leadership, the once fiercely anti-racist Labour Party has become an existential threat to British Jews. Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Mr Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

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Fourth arrest over internal Labour Party antisemitic hate dossier leaked to LBC, following report by CAA

A fourth arrest has been made after Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chairman, Gideon Falter, called into an LBC phone-in with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and made a live-on-air police report of the antisemitic hate crimes detailed in a secret Labour Party dossier which had been leaked to LBC and reviewed by a former police Commander responsible for obsessing hate crime, Mak Chishty.

The latest arrest is of a 44-year-old man from Newham who was arrested this morning on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, which is a very serious criminal offence.

This fourth arrest follows the arrest of two men in their 50s as well as a woman in her 70s, at the end of March, all also on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred. Those three are understood to have been expelled from the Labour Party after the Party learned on LBC that its secret dossier had been reported to the police by Campaign Against Antisemitism live on air.

The secret internal dossier contains over eighty pages of antisemitic hatred by Labour Party members, including numerous admissions of guilt, but the Labour Party kept the dossier secret, not even telling Jewish Labour MPs who were directly threatened within it. This is despite police considering threats to their safety to be so severe as to warrant special police protection.

Some of the perpetrators admitted to the Party that they were behind some of the hatred chronicled in the dossier, which is just one of many dossiers compiled by the Party’s internal Compliance Unit for consideration by the Party’s Disputes Panel. The original researchers who compiled the dossier have now left the Party, with at least one of them publicly voicing their disgust at attitudes towards antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for the Metropolitan Police Service to demand that the Labour Party hands over its further secret internal dossiers detailing antisemitic hate crimes by Party members, and for police officers to seize the dossiers if they are not provided willingly. We have also called for the Labour Party to be investigated for keeping its evidence of the crimes secret.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour reportedly took ten days to start an investigation over Amanda Bishop’s call for members to march on her local synagogue

The Labour Party reportedly took ten days to launch an investigation into a Party member, Amanda Bishop, who called for fellow activists to “march” on her local synagogue.

Ms Bishop wrote in the Brighton and Hove Labour Party Facebook forum that: “We can’t allow this to go on. We need to march about this on the Synagogue in Hove, all of us members in Brighton.” Her call for direct action against the synagogue was in response to the suspension of Alexandrina Braithwaite, from the Brighton and Hove Labour branch, for sharing allegedly antisemitic posts on social media, which Ms Bishop felt was “bulls***”.

The Telegraph reported that Labour was forced to suspend Ms Braithwaite, who was also a council candidate in the upcoming elections, after the newspaper revealed that she had posted a web of online Rothschild and Israel conspiracy theories.

After Ms Bishop’s comments were uncovered, Labour sources reportedly confirmed that she had been suspended pending an investigation.

However, according to PoliticsHome, a local Party member reported the comments to Labour’s Compliance Unit on 16th April. On 25th April, the member emailed the Party again asking why no action had yet been taken, copying in General Secretary Jennie Formby. The following day, the complainer reportedly received an e-mail from Ms Formby’s office informing them that the case had been passed to the Compliance Unit “as a matter of urgency.”

PoliticsHome reports that Brighton and Hove Council’s community safety team was also informed of the comments which led to increased security outside local synagogues during Passover.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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George McManus, who was suspended from Labour over “Judas” Facebook comment, made Labour spokesman in Yorkshire

George McManus, who was briefly suspended from the Labour Party after posting a Facebook comment about Tom Watson likening him to “Judas” for accepting donations from Jewish businessman Sir Trevor Chinn, has reportedly been made Labour spokesman in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He is also a local election candidate for Labour in the Minster and Woodmansey Ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Mr McManus, who sat on Labour’s National Policy Forum as a Momentum-backed member, wrote that: “Apparently [the] Electoral Commission states that Watson received £50,000+ from Jewish donors. At least Judas only got 30 pieces of silver.” Judas was supposedly a disciple of Jesus who betrayed him for money, and for centuries was used as a means of inciting hatred and even murder by portraying Jews as money-obsessed and disloyal.

Mr McManus deleted the post and apologised, calling his comments “crass”, “wrong”, “inappropriate and hurtful.” Labour reportedly reinstated Mr McManus after just eight weeks.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Disgraced Corbyn aide Laura Murray, who intervened to stop suspension of alleged antisemite, formally appointed as Labour’s Head of Complaints

Jeremy Corbyn’s close parliamentary aide, the daughter of one of his major allies, has now been formally appointed to lead the Labour Party’s disciplinary process.

According to the Labour Party, Ms Murray is “the best person for the job”, despite the fact that she has been publicly disgraced after being caught preventing the suspension of Pat Sheerin, an alleged antisemite who has now been arrested on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, the most serious non-violent form of hate crime.

Ms Sheerin is one of three former Labour activists who have been arrested on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred. The arrests were made after Campaign Against Antisemitism reported a secret Labour Party dossier to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick live on air, after it was exposed on LBC radio.

Ms Sheerin is alleged to have posted material claiming that there are links between Israel and Isis, and promoting the idea that Jewish groups fomented the Ukrainian revolution.

Leaked e-mails have also shown that Ms Murray intervened to stop the suspension of a Labour member who praised the antisemitic mural, which Mr Corbyn also defended.

Ms Murray has also accused television star and antisemitism campaigner Rachel Riley of endorsing physical attacks on Mr Corbyn over his handling of antisemitism in the Party, leading to Ms Riley launching a libel claim.

Campaign Against Antisemitism considers the brazen appointment of Ms Murray as yet further evidence that the Labour Party cannot be trusted to tackle its antisemitism problem.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour selects seven candidates for upcoming elections who have been engulfed in Party’s antisemitism crisis, including activist photographed with convicted Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz

The Labour Party has selected six candidates for the upcoming local council and European Parliament elections who have been engulfed in the Party’s antisemitism crisis, including a former ally of Alison Chabloz, the convicted Holocaust denier.

Martin Mayer

Martin Mayer, a Labour Party activist who reportedly claimed that the Israeli lobby had “manufactured” the Labour’s antisemitism crisis has been selected as a candidate for the upcoming European Parliament election. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Mayer, a former member of Labour’s National Executive Committee and a Unite union activist, has been chosen to stand as the Member of European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and Humber.

Mr Mayer, who is a retired transport worker, has also reportedly been active in Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW), a group set up to protest the expulsion of Labour members for alleged antisemitism. A report of a meeting of LAW in Sheffield last May said Mr Mayer had “shared fascinating stories from his time on the Labour Party NEC and the many ‘bogus’ claims of antisemitism he witnessed first hand.” According to the newspaper, in 2016 Mr Mayer sent an e-mail entitled “How Israel lobby manufactured UK Labour party’s antisemitism crisis.” In the e-mail he allegedly complained that “Labour’s Blairite right wing have used the smear of antisemitism to undermine Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.” Mr Mayer also reportedly circulated an e-mail from Tony Greenstein, who was expelled from the Labour Party for abusive conduct including calling Jews “Zios” on social media, in which Mr Greenstein accused Mr Corbyn’s critics of “a dirty tricks operation” worthy of the CIA.

In a statement to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Mayer said that: “When I was on the NEC I was shocked and appalled to see cases of antisemitism within our Party. I said back then and I say again now: it does exist within our Party, it is a problem, and we must not tolerate it. I was also concerned about factionalism undermining the integrity of the disciplinary processes and the fight against antisemitism. I regret the language I used to express this and I would not use it today. Since then, I have learnt a lot more about this subject and I realise that words like ‘smear’ have the effect of downplaying and dismissing this very serious issue.” He added that: “I did not deny the problem exists within our Party, and I believe anyone who denies it is contributing to the problem. As we’ve seen from the figures that the Party recently released, this is a small minority in our Party, but they must be kicked out.”

David Sheard

The Sunday Telegraph also revealed that three more Labour councillors and candidates for the local elections have recently posted material appearing to endorse the claim that accusations of antisemitism have been exploited by the “Israel lobby” and Jewish groups in the UK.

In a tweet responding to concerns raised by Wes Streeting MP about voters being put off Labour by claims of antisemitism, David Sheard, the Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council, reportedly responded that: “Jewish organisations run a concerted campaign against JC [Jeremy Corbyn] and Wea [sic] Streeting is not surprised that it is working.” Mr Sheard did not respond to a request for a comment from the Sunday Telegraph.

Eleanor Tristram

Eleanor Tristram, a candidate for Stafford Borough Council, reportedly shared a claim on Facebook that the Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth was funded by the “Israel lobby” and also described the Labour antisemitism crisis as a “smear” organised by “pro-Israel Labour MPs”. Ms Tristram also reportedly shared a Facebook post that stated that: “The current antisemitism witch-hunt against Chris Williamson, Jackie Walker and others, and against our own Labour Party constituencies is a fraud…The attacks, orchestrated by the right-wing of the Labour Party led by Tom Watson, reinforced by the MSM [mainstream media], are not really about antisemitism. They are a cover for sabotage…These pro-Israel Labour MPs know that such a government would oppose attacks on the Palestinian people.” Responding to claims that she was helping to spread antisemitic comments, Ms Tristram told the Sunday Telegraph that: “The current row over antisemitism is a witch hunt against Jeremy Corbyn. There is no problem with antisemitism in the party. I’ve not seen any examples of it at meetings or at party conference. It’s part of a campaign in the mainstream media to discredit the leadership.” She added that: “The majority of antisemitism directed at [Jewish members] has not come from Labour members and if it has they have been expelled.”

Mick Bone

Another Labour candidate, Mick Bone, who is seeking election to Middlesbrough Council, reportedly shared a graphic suggesting that the Israeli Embassy controls BBC News, and that Jewish employees such as the BBC’s former Director of Television, Danny Cohen had dual loyalty to Israel. Mr Bone also reportedly shared Facebook memes calling for Israeli diplomats to be expelled from Britain and accused the “Israeli lobby” of leading a witch hunt against Mr Corbyn. He refused to comment when contacted by the paper.

In relation to Mr Sheard, Ms Tristram and Mr Bone, a Labour Party spokesperson told the Sunday Telegraph that: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms. All complaints about antisemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

These latest revelations came after The Telegraph reported on 15th April that Labour was forced to suspend Alexandrina Braithwaite, a council candidate, after the newspaper revealed that she had posted a web of online Rothschild and Israel conspiracy theories.

Frances Naggs

Separately, The Independent has reported that the author of an open letter that claimed that a Jewish community protest in Parliament Square last March was the work of a “very powerful special interest group” has been selected as a Labour council candidate. Frances Naggs, a Labour activist in Staffordshire, is standing for Labour as a councillor in Staffordshire Moorlands. Ms Naggs’ letter was reportedly shared widely on social media and received thousands of likes. She reportedly wrote: “Yesterday we witnessed the full onslaught of a very powerful special interest group mobilising its apparent, immense strength against you. It is clear this group can employ the full might of the BBC to make sure its voice is heard very loudly and clearly. It is a shame not every special interest group can get the same coverage.” She added: “But, and it is a very big but, we live in a democracy, a one member one vote democracy and no special interest group, regardless of their history or influence, can be allowed to dictate who the rest of us can vote for or how we vote.” Ms Naggs told Independent that the letter was a “naïve mistake” and that she had not been referring to Jewish groups.

Kasey Carver

Additionally, The Jewish News reports that Kasey Carver, who was photographed with convicted Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz, is standing for Labour for the St John’s Ward in High Peak. Ms Chabloz was convicted of criminal offences in relation to songs mocking Holocaust survivors and claiming that the Holocaust was a Jewish fraud. She was convicted in the first case of its kind, following a private prosecution by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which the Crown eventually agreed to take over. She appealed the decision in the Crown Court and the conviction was upheld in February this year, setting a new precedent. Ms Carver, a committee member of Glossop Labour Club, was reported to the Party’s Governance and Legal Unit, as confirmed by local MP Ruth George a year ago. Ms Carver reportedly organised fundraising events with the group Glossop for Kids in Gaza which were attended by Ms Chabloz. A photo from 2014 shared by Glossop for Kids in Gaza shows Ms Carver with Ms Chabloz and other activists holding up a Palestinian flag at an event. The photo appears on Ms Chabloz’s Facebook page. Ms Carver told the Jewish News that: “I ran those benefits and [Chabloz] sang in one of them and that’s the photograph you refer to. She came to those benefits often. Then she left the area and then it came to our attention [in 2016] that some of the stuff she was putting out was outrageous antisemitism.”

Screenshots of deleted Facebook posts sent from Carver’s personal account have been widely circulated online. A Facebook post from 2015 linked back to a blog post published on the website “Semitic Controversies”, above which Ms Carver commented: “Just looked at the potentially Zionist influence of the BBC.” Another deleted post linked to a story published in “Global Research CA”, which suggested that Israel backs ISIS. The post read that: “Various indications of Israel support for ISIS in the past but this is looking more convincing. If true, just shows what a mixed up and morally reprehensible mess that has been created in Syria.” Ms Carver told The Jewish News: “I regret that and I have been to antisemitism training then and I am very much more aware of the sensitivity of the [BBC] post and I have apologised.” She added that she had not intended to promote the view that Israel backs ISIS. “Our branch has been put on antisemitism training to make people more aware.”

Kate Linnegar

The BBC has also reported that Kate Linnegar, Labour’s candidate for Swindon Borough Council, as well as its prospective parliamentary candidate for the North Swindon seat at the next general election, has shared articles arguing that false allegations of antisemitism were being manufactured or “weaponised” to discredit Jeremy Corbyn. In a statement, she told the BBC: “I sincerely apologise for having liked or shared these posts in the past and for the offence this has caused” adding that she has since “developed a deeper understanding about the issue”. Labour said the posts were published in 2016, before the UK government and the Party adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism and that Ms Linnegar was “committed to tackling anti-Semitism within her own party and society” but regardless of when the definition was formally adopted, it pointedly failed to apologise or commit to taking any kind of disciplinary action.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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CAA petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an “antisemite” who is “unfit to hold any public office” passes 50,000 signatures

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an “antisemite” who is “unfit to hold any public office” has passed 50,000 signatures.

The petition notes that Mr Corbyn has “lied, distracted, tried to twist the definition of antisemitism to exclude his past conduct, and issued false apologies when pressure mounted” and that “his actions have been consistent with those of an ideological antisemite”. It concludes: “For as long as the Labour Party is in Jeremy Corbyn’s grip, it cannot be a force for good. His past demonstrates that he should never have been elected to the leadership of the Labour Party and he is unfit to hold any public office. Antisemites must not hold positions of power.”

The petition has already made headlines in newspapers such as The Times and The Sun and the petition continues to spread virally through Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.

Those signing have done so despite an attempt by Change.org to disparage them by posting a notice at the top of the petition warning that its facts are contested. You may wish to tell Change.org what you think about their warning notice by e-mailing [email protected].

Pressure is mounting on the Labour Party as a poll showed that 55% of the British public agrees with the petition’s sentiment that Mr Corbyn is unfit for office over antisemitism.

Meanwhile, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Since the Commission began its pre-enforcement proceedings against Labour, further appalling evidence has come to light, including revelations that Jeremy Corbyn’s own staffers and senior allies were interceding on behalf of antisemites. Senior figures in the Labour Party have said they would welcome the Commission pursuing our complaint, including two Shadow Cabinet members — Emily Thornberry and Tom Watson — as well as Labour peers and MPs including Dame Louise Ellman, Lord Falconer, Dame Margaret Hodge, Cath McKinnell, Ruth Smeeth, Alex Sobel and Wes Streeting.

In light of the evidence that Campaign Against Antisemitism has presented, and these calls for help from within Labour, we expect the Commission to announce a statutory investigation so that it can avail itself of its full legal powers to compel the Labour Party to act against the antisemites in its ranks.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

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Radio Times publishes Miriam Margolyes’ vile claims that antisemitism in Labour is exaggerated “to stop Corbyn from being Prime Minister”

The actor Miriam Margolyes, best known for her portrayal of Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, has attempted to diminish the scale and impact of the Labour antisemitism scandal by characterising it as a plot to undermine Jeremy Corbyn. In an interview given to the Radio Times, Ms Margolyes said: “I don’t think there is the extent of antisemitism in the Labour Party that people seem to imply” and stated that she believes “…it’s to do with trying to stop Corbyn from being Prime Minister.”

Accusing Jews of making accusations of antisemitism in bad faith in order to aid a hidden agenda is a well-established antisemitic slur.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Ms Margolyes has a history of making appalling remarks about Jews. In 2016 she was caught on film, appearing to suggest that “Jews and blacks are stingy”. The previous year, in an interview in The Telegraph, she asserted that “nobody likes Jews” and claimed that “People understandably and correctly associate Israel with Jews and Jews are killing people. Innocent people.”

Elsewhere in the Radio Times interview, Ms Margolyes takes aim at her former friend, the actress Maureen Lipman, who has taken a brave and principled stand over antisemitism in Labour and the demonisation of Israel. Ms Margolyes refers to Ms Lipman as “a fool”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on the Radio Times to apologise for providing Ms Margolyes with a platform from which to spread her repulsive views. If you think that the Radio Times should apologise, please e-mail them at [email protected], and make clear whether you would like them to publish your e-mail.

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Actor John Davies suspended from Labour after reportedly claiming that Jewish Labour MP’s loyalties “lie elsewhere”


Actor and Labour Party activist John Davies has reportedly been suspended from the Labour Party after claiming that Jewish Labour MP’s loyalties “lie elsewhere”.

Mr Davies, who played the role of Les Hunter in the soap-opera Hollyoaks and appeared in Coronation Street, was chair of the St Michael’s branch of Liverpool Riverside Labour Party.

According to the JC, Mr Davies said that Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth’s loyalties lie elsewhere: “Her prime interests are neither socialism nor the Labour Party — they lie elsewhere.” The newspaper said that Mr Davies suggested that Jews who identify with Israel “have a big problem” and justified historical comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.

Mr Davies, who is said by the JC to use the alias Johnny Beggs, also criticised his local MP Dame Louise Ellman and falsely claimed that she had used a parliamentary speech to express support for “Israel’s child prisoner policy.”

He is also reported to have suggested that Luciana Berger was not interested in challenging racism but “in damaging Corbyn and making Palestinian advocacy risky.”

When someone questioned linking those accusing Labour of antisemitism with Hitler, Mr Davies wrote that: “I think historical comparisons need to be made sometimes.”

Last month a letter titled “Hands Off the Left!” with the names of 53 Merseyside Labour activists, including John Davies, was posted on Johnny Beggs’ Facebook page. It said that: “The current antisemitism witch-hunt against Chris Williamson, Jackie Walker and others, and against our own Labour Party constituencies is a fraud. It is a continuation of a three-year-long campaign aimed at derailing the movement around Jeremy Corbyn. These pro-Israel Labour MPs know that such a government would oppose attacks on the Palestinian people. It is clear that they would prefer a pro-Israel Conservative government, to a socialist Labour government, critical of Israel.”

The JC has claimed that since the newspaper brought his behaviour to the Labour Party’s attention, Mr Davies has been suspended, but he claims, however, that his suspension is “only partial.” A statement was posted on Johnny Beggs’ Facebook page yesterday which said: “I’ve been suspended from the Labour Party, after a joint campaign by some hard right members of my CLP, our MP and the Jewish Chronicle. I will fight my suspension, which is only partial, and challenge the usual concoction of lies and distortions.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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55% of public believes Jeremy Corbyn is unfit to be Prime Minister due to failure to tackle antisemitism, according to ComRes poll

A ComRes poll has found that 55% of the British public agreed with the statement that: “Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle antisemitism within his own party shows he is unfit to be Prime Minister.” ComRes conducted the poll for the Jewish News.

Additionally, 51% believe that “The Labour Party has a serious antisemitism problem”, which represents a dramatic rise from the 34% who answered affirmatively when ComRes asked the same question in July last year.

Merely 22% “believe Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that he has an ‘absolute determination’ to stamp out antisemitism from the Labour Party.”

Disturbingly, however, 52% of the Labour voters surveyed agreed that Mr Corbyn is the target of “a concerted smear campaign by his political opponents to try to discredit him over antisemitism.”

According to the Jewish News, a Labour source said that: “This looks like a set of leading questions that anyone would expect to produce a negative result.”

Andrew Hawkins, Chair of ComRes, remarked that “Being seen as soft on racism must account for a major part of Labour’s malaise given that almost one in three of the Party’s own voters at the last election believe its leader is not fit to be Prime Minister because of the issue.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Shadow Justice Minister Richard Burgon’s lies and claims that “Zionism is the enemy of peace” prove that in Labour, there is no justice for Jews

Shadow Justice Minister, Richard Burgon’s speech at a public meeting in 2014, video footage of which has now been brought to light, is nothing less than a diatribe, including the accusation that “Zionism is the enemy of peace.”

In the speech, uncovered and released by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin, Mr Burgon, who would be Secretary of State for Justice in a Corbyn-led government, said that: “…the enemy — the enemy of the Palestinian People is not the Jewish people, the enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists; and Zionism is the enemy of peace…”

Mr Burgon’s appalling comments evoke Stalin-era antisemitic propaganda. Targeted specifically at Jews in the Soviet Union who wished to emigrate to Israel and to curry favour in the Middle East, Stalin, and later other Soviet leaders in the 1970s and 1980s, were the originators of the antisemitic attempt to force Jews to denounce Israel by demonising Zionism and Zionists, and declaring the latter subversive traitors. At the Slansky trials in the former Czechoslovakia, Jewish leaders were executed for, among other things, the crime of being Zionists, as were hundreds of Jewish doctors in the so-called Doctor’s plot. This ‘othering’ of Jews, the vast majority of whom naturally believe that Jews should have the right to self-determination just like all other peoples, is the bedrock of modern far-left antisemitism, and was a technique absorbed by farleft groups in the West. Mr Burgon, along with Mr Corbyn are its modern flag-bearers, the latter berating British Zionists for their failure to grasp their own country’s sense of irony, while openly referring to a subversive “Zionist lobby.”

However Mr Burgon, the MP for Leeds East and also the Shadow Lord Chancellor, does not stop there: he said that all Labour Friends of Israel MPs should be asked to resign because of the military actions of Israel in Gaza. This would include Jewish MPs, and in making this request, he makes them complicit in the actions of the Israeli government. This is the kind of comment we associate with the far-right, but we now hear it from the mouth of the man aspiring to run Britain’s justice system. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.

The closing line of Mr Burgon’s tirade is chilling. Not only, it is implied, should these Jewish MPs resign, for they are the “enemies of peace” but they must do it in the name of “all humanity”. For antisemites, a Jewish state — as Jewry formerly — constitutes a uniquely demonic blot on the world, a cancer that must be cut out to make the world healthy once again.

When asked about these comments by Andrew Neil on the BBC, Mr Burgon lied. When asked he said, by turns: “I didn’t say that”, “No”, “Well, I didn’t make those comments”, and “I would not have said it because it’s not my view.” We now learn that he was similarly evasive to the point of lying under oath in a court of law.

It is difficult to know whether Mr Burgon should be dismissed from his post immediately for his brazen lying or for his dissemination of antisemitic discourse in breach of his Party’s own chosen definition of antisemitism, but either way, he should have been dismissed immediately. In the view of Campaign Against Antisemitism, he should be suspended and subjected to a disciplinary process, but this is not a course of action available to a Party that has become institutionally antisemitic. In any case, Mr Burgon cannot be sacrificed, for to admit his own demonisation of Zionists was a fault, would be to expose Mr Corbyn’s own comments to the same judgement.

British Jewry is being subjected to an unexpected and unwelcome retrospective of Soviet antisemitism, demonisation, brazen lies and denials leaving other Labour MPs to look on, pausing only to wring their hands before returning to their seats in Parliament. Meanwhile, the shape of things to come for British Jewry should such a man become Justice Minister, a man who is subject to no justice himself, is ever more terrifying.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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CAA condemns Labour MP Ronald Campbell over claim that “the Jewish issue” is being used “as a big stick to beat Corbyn and get rid of him”

Ronald Campbell, the Labour Party MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland, has told the BBC that charges of antisemitism in the Labour Party are politically motivated and that “the Jewish issue” is being used “as a big stick to beat Corbyn and get rid of him.”

In an interview commencing at 05:25 minutes on The World This Weekend program on BBC Radio 4, Mr Campbell told presenter Mark Mardell that it was “deplorable” and “just unacceptable” that Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge secretly recorded her meeting with Jeremy Corbyn to discuss the Labour Party’s antisemitism crisis. The recording revealed that Mr Corbyn has been making assurances of firm action against antisemitism whilst in reality he believed that evidence of antisemitism was being “ignored”.

Mr Campbell said that: “The people in the Parliamentary Labour Party are using the Jewish issue, the antisemitic issue, as a big stick to beat Corbyn and get rid of him. It’s as simple as that as far as I can see. I’ve been in the Labour Party nearly — more than 50 years and I’ve never heard anything like this before. Now I understand there’s a lot of people have come in to the Party from the far-left and have these views. I would say to them, please leave, you’re not welcome in this Party.”

Mr Campbell, who has represented the constituency of Blyth Valley since 1987, appeared to downplay the antisemitism faced by Dame Margaret and others, declaring: “I know they’ve had some stick on their Facebook and whatnot and it shouldn’t be tolerated. But to use the Leader and get at the Leader because you want rid of the Leader — nobody wanted him in the first place, remember. The Parliamentary Labour Party put a no confidence vote in. When they didn’t get that, they started to say what issue can we get them on? Ah the Jewish issue. This is a good one. I feel sorry for the Jewish people…You’re being used by these people. Just to get rid of Corbyn that is.”

Mr Campbell reportedly made similar comments in April last year. According to ChronicleLive, which covers his constituency, he said that: “The latest row over the bizarre allegation that Jeremy is in any way anti-Jewish has been got up by the right-wing media. It is getting so bad that you cannot criticise Israel in its dealings with Palestine without being accused of racism or fascism. They are using it as a big stick to hit Jeremy with.” He added that the attacks were coming from inside Labour: “For once, it is not the Tories that are doing this; it is people on our side. Those career politicians in the Labour Party need to wind their necks in and fight the Tories. We have to remember who the enemy is – the Tories!”

To claim that allegations of antisemitism are being invented or exaggerated for political gain is to accuse Jews of complicity in a political conspiracy. Additionally, Mr Campbell’s clumsy use of the term “Jewish issue” will evoke historic language about the “Jewish problem” or the “Jewish question” which was central to European antisemitism in the 19th and 20th centuries, including that of the Nazis.

Campaign Against Antisemitism condemns Mr Campbell for his repulsive attempt to characterise Jews’ complaints about antisemitism in the Labour Party as some kind of political and media plot. Such claims against any other minority or in any other political party could be expected to end his career, but in the institutionally antisemitic Labour Party, we have come to expect that there will be no justice.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In the BBC interview, Mr Campbell seemed to support the Equality and Human Rights Commission investigating Labour, saying: “[It] might be a good idea for an independent body to look at these things. I’m not arguing that argument. I’m arguing that these people have come in to the Labour Party from the far-left and got these views, should leave. You’re in the wrong party.”

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour Party reportedly suspends last remaining permanent employee from its disciplinary unit, leaving it run by Corbyn staffers

The Labour Party has suspended the last remaining full-time employee from its Compliance Unit, which investigates disciplinary matters, leaving it run by staffers on secondment from Jeremy Corbyn’s office to the Unit.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, last Tuesday the staffer was stripped of their security pass and escorted out of Labour Party headquarters on suspicion of whistleblowing about the Party’s antisemitism crisis, leaving no permanent employees staffing the Compliance Unit, which is now being run by staffers seconded from Mr Corbyn’s office.

This week, senior Labour figures rushed to defend whistleblower, Julian Assange, with Diane Abbott stating that: “Whistleblowers do us all a service”.

A Labour spokesman said: “We don’t comment on staffing matters. Complaints are being handled in the usual way.” However, we know from a secret recording of Mr Corbyn himself, that “the usual way” could be to ignore and misplace critical evidence.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism declared the Labour Party to be “institutionally antisemitic” back in 2016, followed by other Jewish community charities two years later. In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Jeremy Corbyn’s admission that Labour may have “mislaid, ignored or not used” evidence of antisemitism proves statutory investigation is needed

It has emerged today that in a secretly-recorded conversation with Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, Jeremy Corbyn admitted that Labour may have “ignored or misplaced or not used”.

The admission, in a recording released by The Sunday Times, shows that even as he consistently assured the nation that Labour “takes antisemitism very seriously”, he actually believed that “evidence [of antisemitism within the Party] was either being mislaid, ignored or not used”.

The admission adds to the evidence that the Labour Party cannot be trusted to deal with antisemitism and must be subject to a full statutory investigation.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism declared the Labour Party to be “institutionally antisemitic” back in 2016, followed by other Jewish community charities two years later. In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Labour Representation Committee publishes appalling blog post attacking Luciana Berger, but Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell remains its President

The so-called Labour Representation Committee (LRC), a pro-Corbyn pressure group, has published an appalling blog post on their website attacking Jewish MP Luciana Berger, who quit the Labour Party over antisemitism, and the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) which she chaired. JLM, which has for almost 100 years been the collective body of Jewish Labour Party supporters, approved a motion on Sunday declaring that it has “no confidence” in Jeremy Corbyn and that he is “unfit to be Prime Minister.”

The LRC has a long history of belittling claims of antisemitism and publishing extremely disturbing articles. The Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, is its President.

In this latest blog post, entitled “JLM Stabs Labour in the Back”, the LRC’s Political Secretary, Mick Brooks, regurgitates conspiracy theories and claims that the antisemitism crisis in the Labour Party is a smear. Using the most loaded and offensive language, Mr Brooks wrote that: “They have declared war on Labour” and concluded that: “They are stabbing us in the back. That is insupportable. The JLM must be disaffiliated from Labour as soon as possible.” He then denied that Luciana Berger was forced out of the Party by antisemitism, declaring: “Let us be clear. Luciana Berger left the Party of her own accord.”

Mr Brooks also referred to an article alleging an Israeli conspiracy: “According to the Electronic Intifada the JLM was revived in 2015 specifically to combat Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause. The article points the finger at Israeli intelligence in helping to refound the dormant JLM, an explanation confirmed by the Al Jazeera’s [sic] documentary The Lobby. It is not antisemitism in Britain, but opposition to policies carried out by the state of Israel that they see as the enemy. In response Asa Winstanley, the author of the article, has been suspended from the Labour Party.”

The International Definition of Antisemitism, states that “Manifestations [of antisemitism] might include the targeting of the State of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for ‘why things go wrong’.”

JLM issued a statement in response to Mr Brooks’ shocking comments stating that: “This article makes it clear that they will blame Jews for any failure at the ballot box, further enabling racism towards Jews. The language of ‘betray’ and ‘backstabbing’ are dogwhistles to antisemitism that Jews have experienced too many times to monstrous effect.”

Mr McDonnell appears to be actively involved with the LRC and is a regular contributor to its website. His most recent article was posted on 4th April.

Were he serious about stamping out antisemitism and making the Labour Party a safe place for Jews, he would step down from and condemn the LRC immediately.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

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Lord Falconer says that Labour’s actions look “frighteningly like” institutional antisemitism

Labour peer Lord Falconer, who the Labour Party’s leaders had controversially considered putting in charge of another “independent” review of Labour’s handling of disciplinary cases of antisemitism, has joined the litany of current and former Labour figures saying that the Party’s actions on antisemitism could render it institutionally antisemitic.

Campaign Against Antisemitism declared the Labour Party to be “institutionally antisemitic” back in 2016, followed by other Jewish community charities two years later.

Invoking the words used by the landmark 1999 Macphereson into institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police Service, Lord Falconer told the Jewish News: “Can antisemitism be detected in the Party’s processes, attitudes or behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping? Looks frighteningly like it as every day goes by.”

Lord Falconer’s warning came after the Sunday Times published pages of analysis and details of a leaked hard drive of e-mails and documents and a secret recording of a meeting between Jeremy Corbyn and Campaign Against Antisemitism’s honorary patron, Dame Margaret Hodge, which have proven once and for all that Mr Corbyn and his team have intervened in hundreds of antisemitism cases in the Labour Party whilst lying that they would “never” interfere.

Last month, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, who served as Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary from 2003 to 2007 and was a flatmate of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said that he would not conduct a review of Labour’s handling of disciplinary cases of antisemitism after the Equalities and Human Rights Commission stepped in.

The Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Yesterday, marked the one year anniversary since over 2,000 Jews and non-Jews alike converged from across the UK for a national demonstration outside Labour Party Head Office in London organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism. The rally demanded that the Labour Party hold Mr Corbyn to account over his failure to tackle antisemitism in the Party. We received 1,025 disciplinary complaints from the demonstrators which we handed over to the Labour Party. A year later, they have still not investigated these complaints.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Three more Labour councillors, Allan Barclay, Merilyn Davies and Jason Fojtik, resign in disgust over antisemitism in the Party

Three more Labour councillors, Allan Barclay, Marilyn Davies and Jason Fojtik, have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Mr Barclay, the Mayor of Hartlepool, said that he resigned from Labour because: “My fear has become a reality that the Labour Party has become a party of antisemites, racists and homophobes, it has indeed become the nasty party.” In his resignation letter to Jeremy Corbyn, as well as Deputy Leader Tom Watson and General Secretary Jennie Formby, he wrote that: “I feel that Jeremy Corbyn must resign and the Corbynites must be removed from the Labour Party. This is the only way that the party can become respectable again.”

“My fear has become a reality that the Labour Party has become a party of antisemites, racists and homophobes, it has indeed become the nasty party.”

Mr Barclay, an armed forces veteran, had been a member of the Party for more than 24 years. A Labour Party spokesperson said that the Party rejected Mr Barclay’s position.

Ms Davies also resigned over antisemitism. A Labour and Co-op councillor in Freeland and Hanborough in Oxfordshire, Ms Davies, was reportedly infuriated after a video featuring former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown making a speech opposing antisemitism was deleted from the closed Witney Labour Facebook group. Ms Davies told the Oxford Mail: “I could not have been prouder to be elected, a year ago, as a Labour and Co-op councillor for Hanborough and Freeland. But in that year, my party has changed, and whilst I know my former Labour councillors at West Oxfordshire District Council share my values and commitment to our communities, I have come to the conclusion to stay in the party would make me complicit in the antisemitism and climate of hate and fear now generated across CLPs.”

“I believe the Party has become institutionally antisemitic, and I can no longer stand by in silence, because being silent is being complicit.”

She added: “I believe the Labour Party is now institutionally antisemitic. It is not just those who generate it who are to blame but those that stand by silent while they do. I can no longer be silent. I will be louder.” In a Facebook post, she also wrote that: “But I believe the Party has become institutionally antisemitic, and I can no longer stand by in silence, because being silent is being complicit.”

Mr Fojtik, the Labour town and district councillor for Clopton Ward in Stratford-upon-Avon, released a statement on social media explaining his resignation. He wrote: “For months the Labour Party failed to act before finally being shamed into accepting the definition [International Definition of Antisemitism], but little has changed and I have come to the conclusion that a Party that has always been proud of its anti-racism, has become institutionally antisemitic under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Ignoring this deplorable behaviour by our supporters is tantamount to tacit endorsement.”

“I have come to the conclusion that a Party that has always been proud of its anti-racism, has become institutionally antisemitic under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.”

Mr Fojtik was elected town and district councillor for Clopton Ward in 2015. He will now stand as an independent in that ward in the upcoming local elections.

Campaign Against Antisemitism commends Messrs Barclay, Davies and Fojtik for taking a principled stand against antisemitism.

They join many other councillors who have also felt compelled to leave. In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

Yesterday, marked the one year anniversary since over 2,000 Jews and non-Jews alike converged from across the UK for a national demonstration outside Labour Party Head Office in London organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism. The rally demanded that the Labour Party hold Mr Corbyn to account over his failure to tackle antisemitism in the Party. We received 1,025 disciplinary complaints from the demonstrators which we handed over to the Labour Party. A year later, they have still not investigated these complaints.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Corbyn ally Emily Thornberry joins calls for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to proceed with investigation following CAA’s complaint against her Party

Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary and a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is reportedly the latest senior Labour politician to call for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to proceed with its investigation into institutional antisemitic discrimination and victimisation within the Labour Party.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party last month following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

According to the news website, Politico, Ms Thornberry said that she would be in favour of Labour coming under national oversight from bodies like the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which she said could launch an inquiry into the Party’s process for handling complaints. Ms Thornberry made the comments during an interview for Politico’s “EU Confidential” podcast.

“I just want it sorted,” she told Politico.

Ms Thornberry also told Politico that she is “disgusted” by fresh media reports in the Sunday Times of antisemitism within Labour and claims that the leadership had interfered with the disciplinary process. She said: “I’m completely disgusted this is continuing to happen” and added that: “Some of the things that were said just turn my stomach and the idea that these people are still in my Labour Party disgusts me.”

Ms Thornberry follows many others within the Labour Party who have called for the EHRC’s investigation to proceed.

Her colleague Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, who stated that: “I am deeply saddened to read that the EHRC feels there is sufficient evidence to investigate Labour for breaches of discrimination law. I have written to our General Secretary to ask that that Labour Party cooperates fully with the EHRC and that all relevant files and data should be retained so that investigators can form a clear picture of the process and culture around Labour’s response to antisemitism within our ranks.”

Lord Falconer, who was at one point due to be asked by the Party’s leadership to become their “antisemitism surveillance commissioner”, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One that: “It sounds to me like an urgent investigation is required…I was willing to do that, and if the Commission don’t come in, I would remain willing to do it.”

Trevor Phillips, founding Chair of the EHRC and a Labour member, wrote that: “…Yesterday’s courageous decision by the Commission to investigate the Labour Party was a proud moment for me. I know that EHRC lawyers would have considered the decision with the utmost thoroughness, and I am sure the Board would have weighed the risk of controversy carefully. And then they did the right thing – just as you’d expect a pioneering body empowered to attack injustice without fear or favour to do….Let me be clear: Had I still been at the EHRC, I would have supported this decision 100 per cent.”

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Yesterday, marked the one year anniversary since over 2,000 Jews and non-Jews alike converged from across the UK for a national demonstration outside Labour Party Head Office in London organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism. The rally demanded that the Labour Party hold Mr Corbyn to account over his failure to tackle antisemitism in the Party. We received 1,025 disciplinary complaints from the demonstrators which we handed over to the Labour Party. A year later, they have still not investigated these complaints.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Jewish Labour Movement approves motion that Jeremy Corbyn is “unfit to be Prime Minister” after voting to remain affiliated to Labour Party

The Jewish Labour Movement, which has for almost 100 years been the collective body of Jewish Labour Party supporters, has approved a motion declaring that it has “no confidence” in Jeremy Corbyn and that he is “unfit to be Prime Minister”.

However the Jewish Labour Movement has not decided to reopen the debate on disaffiliating from the Labour Party after a motion to do so was defeated a month ago.

The Jewish Labour Movement therefore seems to be in agreement that the Labour Party is institutionally antisemitic and that its leader poses a serious threat to the British Jewish community, but it is prepared to remain affiliated to “stand and fight” despite that fight having demonstrably failed. This sends a confusing message.

The move comes amid revelations that Jeremy Corbyn said he was not involved in disciplinary process “at all” whilst his office interfered in over 100 cases.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Lying antisemite Jeremy Corbyn said he was not involved in disciplinary process “at all” whilst his office interfered in over 100 cases

A leaked hard drive of e-mails and documents and a secret recording of a meeting between Jeremy Corbyn and Campaign Against Antisemitism’s honorary patron, Dame Margaret Hodge, have proven once and for all that Mr Corbyn and his team have intervened in hundreds of antisemitism cases in the Labour Party whilst lying that they would “never” interfere. The revelations are made in pages of analysis in today’s Sunday Times.

In the secretly-recorded meeting between Dame Margaret, Mr Corbyn, and his political secretary, Amy Jackson, both Ms Jackson and Mr Corbyn repeatedly claim that they would “never” interfere in complaints of antisemitism in the Labour Party and would not even normally see them. Mr Corbyn assures Dame Margaret: “I don’t involve myself in a complaint at all”. Yet in numerous leaked e-mails, staffers intercede in the name of “LOTO”, which stands for Leader of the Opposition, and in one e-mail, Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff, Karie Murphy, wrote: “I think it’s important for Amy Jackson to have an overview of all complaints that involve elected politicians or candidates.”

As for how Mr Corbyn secretly used his influence, it is clear that it was to block or delay disciplinary cases against antisemites, according to the files leaked to The Sunday Times.

Revelations include that:

  • Mr Corbyn’s office has intervened in over 100 antisemitism cases.
  • “Heil Hitler”, “F*** the Jews” and “Jews are the problem” are online comments for which Labour members were not expelled.
  • A Councillor in Lancashire was readmitted to the Party after claiming that when ranting about “Jewish” media attacks and the Rothschild family, she meant “Jewish” as a “blanket term of description without any racist connotations”.
  • A trade union official was readmitted despite posting online that “Jewish Israelis” were behind the 9/11 terrorist atrocities.
  • Thomas Gardiner, a key ally of Mr Corbyn, prevented the fast-tracking of a complaint about a Party member who condemned two Jewish Labour MPs as “s***-stirring c*** buckets”.
  • A council candidate was let off without any action because he “is a candidate”, after claiming that Jewish Labour MPs were “Zionist infiltrators”.
  • In one tracking spreadsheet for antisemitism cases, it was evident that 53% of cases were unresolved and in 249 cases the Party had not even started an investigation.
  • Most cases reported even by Labour MPs remain unresolved or have been dismissed.

The revelations add to the existing plentiful evidence that Mr Corbyn instructed his team to interfere in antisemitism cases.

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the Shadow Attorney general who was awarded her position after clearing the Labour Party of antisemitism, remarkably reacted by pleading with Jews to remain in the Party, saying that Mr Corbyn is “just one person — he won’t be leader forever”.

A Labour spokesperson told The Sunday Times: “These figures are not accurate…Lines have been selectively leaked from emails to misrepresent their overall contents. Former staffers asked the Leader’s Office for their help with clearing the backlog of cases. This lasted for a few weeks while there was no general secretary, and was ended by Jennie Formby [now in that role].”

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite and a liar. He and his team have claimed ‘never’ to have interfered in disciplinary cases, but there is hard evidence of that happening over 100 times. The contents of the leaked hard drive show concrete proof that Mr Corbyn and his acolytes have been working hard to ensure that Jew-haters can stay in the Labour Party and spread their venom. Mr Corbyn and his allies are the racist rot at the heart of the once proudly anti-racist Labour Party. The fight from within is lost: the Labour Party is now the vehicle for Mr Corbyn and his bigoted Jew-hating allies. That is why Campaign Against Antisemitism made our formal referral and legal submissions to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party as a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.”

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite.

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Baroness Chakrabarti pleads with Jews to stay in the Labour Party because Corbyn “won’t be leader forever”

Baroness Chakrabarti, who authored the eponymous whitewash report claiming that “The Labour Party is not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism” and swiftly became the first person that Jeremy Corbyn ever proposed for elevation to the peerage, has now made a remarkable plea to Jewish Labour members.

Speaking to Sky’s Sophie Ridge, Baroness Chakrabarti begged Jewish members to stay in the Party because Jeremy Corbyn is “just one person — he won’t be leader forever”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism holds Baroness Chakrabarti responsible for allowing Mr Corbyn and his allies to take hold of the Labour Party and for antisemitism running rampant within it. She appears to have sold the Jewish community out in return for her peerage. Still, this is a remarkable statement by one of Mr Corbyn’s front bench colleagues and could be a sign of further splits within the Party over antisemitism.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite.

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Jacob Rees Mogg defends sharing German far-right leader’s speech on Twitter

Prominent Conservative Party backbencher Jacob Rees Mogg has defended his decision to promote a speech by the leader of the far-right German political party, Alternative for Deutschland (AfD).

Mr Rees Mogg tweeted a video of AfD Co-Leader Alice Weidel criticising the European Union in a speech in the Bundestag. Whilst the video shared by Mr Rees Mogg was itself innocuous, AfD has a long and well known history of racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial and antisemitism. Ms Weidel has also made concerning comments in the past, referring to the current German government as “pigs and puppets of World War II’s victorious powers.”

AfD has a long history of problematic language and policies. AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland has said: “Hitler and the Nazis were but a bird s*** in over a thousand years of Germany’s prolific history”, while in 2017 he called for Germans to “have the right to be proud of the contributions German soldiers made in both world wars.” Martin Hohmann, another AfD parliamentarian, said prior to the formation of the AfD that it was unfair Germans were still portrayed as a nation of murderers while no one talked about how “Jews were active in great numbers” in atrocities committed during the Russian Revolution.

AfD has also long supported the banning of circumcision and kosher animal slaughter, which would drive out Germany’s Jewish community.

When challenged on this, Mr Rees Mogg defended his use of the material, stating whilst on LBC that he doesn’t believe that “re-tweeting is an endorsement of things that other people stand for. It’s just pointing out that there’s something interesting that’s worth watching.” This argument is dangerous and promotes and legitimises groups who have no business being close to power.

This is not the first controversial group linked to Mr Rees Mogg. In 2013, he spoke at a dinner for the Traditional Britain Group, which has called for black Britains to be “repatriated”. He said that he felt “very silly”, adding: “I can entirely disassociate myself with the Traditional Britain Group as I have never been a member.” He later told BBC’s Newsnight: “I clearly made a mistake. I think the postings that we’ve recently seen are so deeply disgraceful and shocking that they have no place in decent political debate…I clearly didn’t do enough work to look into what they believed in.”

Part of the way that far-right populists operate is to gain a platform with legitimate — though controversial — statements, occasionally peppering them with extremism and hatred. British politicians should not be promoting their content and adding to their audience. By now, Mr Rees Mogg should know better.

https://twitter.com/Jacob_Rees_Mogg/status/1112428768193404935

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Jeremy Corbyn reportedly called on Western governments to “confront the Zionist lobby” following the arrest of Raed Salah

An article apparently written by Jeremy Corbyn has been uncovered that calls on Western governments to confront “the Zionist lobby” following the arrest of the alleged prolific antisemite and blood-libeller cleric, Raed Salah.

The article was published in the Morning Star on 1st July 2011 after Mr Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was arrested and detained for 21 days on the orders of the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, after entering Britain despite a travel ban. He later won a partial victory in a claim for damages, however none of the antisemitism allegations were overturned.

In the article, rediscovered by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin, Mr Corbyn allegedly criticised “the hysteria” that followed coverage of the ban in the Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph and Jewish Chronicle, writing that: “This bizarre turn of events seems to indicate that the right-wing press has more power than rationality.”

He concluded that: “It’s time that Western governments stood up to the Zionist lobby which seems to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism” and signed off as the Labour MP for Islington North.

In April 2012, Mr Corbyn warmly praised Mr Salah who claimed that Israel planned the 9/11 terrorist atrocities and who has, according to the Court of Appeal, even promoted the antisemitic blood libel that Jews bake bread using the blood of non-Jewish children. Yet Mr Corbyn said that: “Salah’s is a voice that must be heard” and publicly told Mr Salah that: “I look forward to giving you tea on the terrace [in Parliament] because you deserve it!”

A Labour Party spokesperson told the Jewish News that: “There was widespread criticism of the attempt to deport Raed Salah, including from Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and his appeal against deportation succeeded on all grounds.” However that is a deeply misleading statement as the appeal was on technical grounds and the court agreed that Mr Salah promoted the antisemitic blood libel.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism.

Almost 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office”.

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Conservative MP Suella Braverman refuses to back down over use of “cultural Marxism” trope borrowed from Neo-Nazi propaganda

Conservative MP Suella Braverman has refused to apologise or revise her language after using the term “cultural Marxism” in a meeting of the Bruges Group, a right-wing think tank in Westminster.

Ms Braverman reportedly said that “As Conservatives, we are engaged in a battle against cultural Marxism.” She was criticising what she considers to be a rising tide of censorship.

‘Cultural Marxism’ is a term derived from Neo-Nazi propaganda, referring to a conspiracy theory that Marxist scholars from the Frankfurt school in Weimar Germany had devised a manipulative programme of progressive politics, particularly sexual liberty and the spreading of communism, with the intent to undermine the West as part of a nefarious Jewish plot. In recent years, it has found renewed popularity within the far and alt right, and is commonly recognised to be a buzzword for antisemitic theories and beliefs.

A member of the audience is reported to have challenged her immediately after she made her comments, drawing to her attention that the antisemitic trope is one she shares with Anders Breivik, the far-right terrorist who murdered 77 people in two attacks in Norway in 2011. The MP for Fareham was however unapologetic, insisting during the question and answer section of her speech that she believes: “we are in a battle against a cultural Marxism, as I said.”

She added: “We have culture evolving from the far-left which has allowed the snuffing out of freedom of speech, freedom of thought. No one can get offended any more, we are living in a culture where we are putting everyone in cotton wool, a risk-averse mentality is now taking over. And that instinct for freedom, for risk-taking, for making mistakes, for innovation, for creativity, is being killed. And it’s absolutely damaging for our spirit as British people, and our genius, whether it’s for innovation and science, or culture and civilisation; whether it’s for statecraft. I’m very aware of that ongoing creep of cultural Marxism which has come from Jeremy Corbyn.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism condemns Ms Braverman’s unapologetic use of this phrase. Far from censoring Ms Braverman, we simply ask that she conduct her debates without knowingly borrowing terminology from neo-Nazi propaganda.

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel an Executive Assistant an Education and Outreach Intern to join our London office

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.