GMB union elects new boss with history of speaking out against antisemitism

A new GMB union General Secretary, with a history of speaking out against antisemtism, was elected last Thursday.

Gary Smith has previously said: “No political party has clean hands on the issue of antisemitism but nobody should need any reminders that antisemitism is on the rise and we in GMB are clear that it is absolutely intolerable.”

In the past, he has spoken out against Richard Leonard, the former Scottish Labour leader, for failing to support the International Definition of Antisemitism.

In March 2019, he labelled the Labour Party’s handling of antisemitism “disgraceful” and revealed that he even thought about leaving the Party himself.

Mr Smith also spoke out when Rhea Wolfson, a Jewish official with the GMB Scotland union, was targeted in an article which mentioned that Hitler had alleged that Jews had gradually assumed leadership of the trade union movement.

A colleague of Mr Smith’s stated: “Some union people struggle with the idea of treating racism against Jews in the same way they would treat racism against other ethnic minorities. Gary understands the poisonous nature of anti-Jewish racism, and does not operate with any hierarchies.”

In April, it was reported that a former senior official from the GMB union allegedly referred to victims of antisemitism as “rich b****** Jews” in an appalling speech, sources claim.

Last month, Dennis McNulty, a GBM union activist, was jailed for nine years after he assaulted a Jewish barrister in an antisemitic attack and saying: “It’s always you f***ing people, you’re always the problem.”