Labour MP faces backlash over Corbyn invitation as two councillors come under fire over antisemitism claims

A Labour Party MP is facing a backlash after inviting Jeremy Corbyn to speak at an event.

Kate Osamor, the MP for Edmonton, has been criticised following a post on her Facebook page about her “political summer school”.

The post read: “Really pleased to be joined by Jeremy Corbyn at my Political Summer School. Without exception the students remain inspired and excited by Jeremy and the politics of hope that he represents.” 

It is understood that a number of Ms Osamor’s constituents have written to the MP to express their concerns. One constituent said: “There are still pockets in the party who are problematic. Kate should be helping fight back against these people, rather than pandering to someone like Corbyn who can’t bring himself to fully accept the recommendations of the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] report.”

The Labour Party was found by the EHRC to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.

Meanwhile, two Labour councillors have come under fire following accusations of denying or engaging in antisemitism. 

Cllr Raymond Moon, of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, has been suspended from the Labour group on the Council after he sponsored the screening of Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie at the Tunbridge Wells Forum.

The antisemitism-denial propaganda film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration. However, Mr Murray has since sought to distance himself from the film.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.

Of his suspension, Cllr Moon said: “I was extremely upset and it’s my own party members that have instigated it. It was a blow, not having been a councillor very long. I try to represent people and this was nothing to do with the party as far as I saw it, it was just giving a personal view.”

Another councillor was suspended from the Labour Party for allegedly sharing antisemitic content online.

Even after his suspension, Cllr David Morton, who sits on the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, liked a tweet questioning the number of Jews who died during the Holocaust, although he claimed that he had misunderstood it and has since blocked the account that had originally tweeted it.

Cllr Morton said of his suspension: “I’m absolutely stunned by this. I do not hold any antisemitic views and I’m certainly not racist. I was shocked because of the allegations of antisemitism and racism. I am probably the last person to be accused of that. My father-in-law was Jewish and I was involved in the report on Kindertransport.”

Labour reportedly opened an investigation, and in the meantime, Cllr Morton resigned from the Party, citing a disagreement within the Council regarding the Clean Air Neighbourhood project as the reason for his departure.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

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