Veteran Labour MP Frank Field resigns the Labour whip, calling Jeremy Corbyn “antisemitic”

Veteran Labour MP Frank Field has resigned the Party whip over antisemitism in the Party.

In a letter addressed to the Labour Party’s chief whip, he wrote that the Labour leadership is becoming a “force for antisemitism in British politics” and accused Jeremy Corbyn of trying to “deny that past statements and actions by him were antisemitic.”

He added: “Britain fought the Second World War to banish these views from our politics, but that superhuman effort and success is now under huge and sustained internal attack…It saddens me to say that we are increasingly seen as a racist party. This issue alone compels me to resign the whip.”

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “It is very sad that after almost 40 years as a Labour MP, Frank Field felt morally compelled to resign the Labour whip because the Party that was fiercely anti-racist when he joined it has now become infested with antisemitism. It is inevitable that if a political party is led by an antisemite who lets Jew-hatred run rampant, people of conscience will reject it. The indications are that others may now follow where Frank Field has led.”

The move comes as 35,000 people signed our petition in just a few days calling on Labour MPs to leave the Party if Jeremy Corbyn does not resign.

Meanwhile, thousands of people have begun changing their profile photos on social media as part of our “Together Against Antisemitism” campaign to show solidarity with Jews against antisemitism in public life.