Tony Blair says Labour antisemitism is “killing the Party” but stops short of saying he won’t vote for Corbyn

Tony Blair has said that Labour’s antisemitism scandal is “absolutely killing the Party”, but stopped short of declaring that he would not vote for the Party in the coming election.

The former Prime Minister made the remarks at a dinner at the Board of Deputies, and said that he anticipates a “complete battle” in Labour between its moderate and radical wings.

Although Mr Blair expressed confidence that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would not win the election, when asked if he himself would vote tactically he replied: “I can’t”.

Mr Blair insisted that “there are really good Labour MPs that are standing in this election. People I know, people I’ve worked with. People who have stood up very strongly on antisemitism in the Labour Party and I want to see them supported.”

Left-wing antisemitism, Mr Blair explained, is “not limited to a few bad apples” but rather is a “phenomenon”, and complained about those who are “obsessed with a hatred of Israel”, noting that he is “having more reasonable conversations about Israel with some of the Arab states than I am back home with parts of the Left.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel also addressed the event, emphasising that the Government is on the Jewish community’s side.

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

Over 57,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”