Green Party spokesman remains in post after voicing antisemitic conspiracy theory

According to the Guido Fawkes political blog, the Green Party’s spokesman, former Labour MP Tony Clarke, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “There are British oil companies such as Genel Energy, run by Nathaniel Rothschild, one of George Osborne’s friends, who are making money, who are buying oil from ISIS, who are putting money into the pot, allowing ISIS therefore to fuel their evil across the world.”

It is worryingly common to hear antisemitic conspiracy theorists claim that ISIS is funded by the Rothschild Jewish banking family, a shorthand reference to nefarious Jewish financial influence.

City AM has reported that the Green Party has retracted their spokesman’s statement: “The Green Party and Tony Clarke apologise to Genel Energy for this false statement, which they have withdrawn and have undertaken not to repeat. The Green Party and Tony Clarke wish to publicly retract this statement and accept it to be untrue and without foundation. Genel Energy…is not, and never has been, a purchaser of oil from anyone.”

The Green Party has disgraced itself. It is clear that this apology was wrung from the Party by the possibility of action for defamation by Genel Energy.

In the run-up to this year’s general election, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett showed that she had no idea how to combat antisemitism when asked what she would do to protect British Jews. The Party has long been criticised for its failure to tackle antisemitism within its own ranks.