Allegations of anti-Semitism have rarely been far from the Labor Party since Jeremy Corbyn has been in charge.
Those close to him say again and again that it is a source of pain and frustration to him, a man who has prided himself on campaigning against racism his whole political life.
The party is adamant that while they were too slow initially to realize the scale of what was brewing, they have now speeded up the system of complaints and are doing as much as is humanly possible to rid the party of the problem.
They point too to the many complaints that have been made about the Tories’ attitude to Islamophobia, and the calls that have been made by the Muslim Council to hold a full investigation into what is going on there, just as the Equalities Commission is undertaking a formal inquiry into the Labor Party.
The prime minister is also under pressure to launch his party’s own inquiry into racism against Muslims, which he promised to do during his leadership bid, but has now reneged on, committing only to a general inquiry into all forms of abuse and prejudice.
But Labor may struggle to change the subject away. That is not just because of the strength of thecriticisms from the Chief Rabbi.
There are of course Jews who back the Labor leader, and the party too. But Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to apologize for what has happened may underline the fear that some in his own party hold that he is somehow blind to some of the criticism.
There was anger today that one of the candidates who sat on the platform alongside him had shared material online that talked of “Zionist masters”, and is now standing to be a Labor MP, although she had apologized for what happened.
Another candidate on the stage defended Ken Livingstone years ago and questioned the gravity of the party’s issue with anti-Semitism last year.
Lord Falconer, the Labor Peer who was helping the party get to the bottom of what has been happening said it was “terrible” and “showed the most appalling insensitivity “.
One of his shadow team, Nia Griffith, said on Tuesday night that the party should say sorry to Jewish Labor colleagues and to the wider community, and that she was “very ashamed” of what has happened.
But in the interview with Andrew Neil, the Labor leader stuck resolutely to his formula that he abhors all forms of racism. He **** means that.
Yet many people watching tonight may have felt it uncomfortable that a simple apology seemed to stick in his throat. You can watch the interviewon the BBC iPlayer here.
The other problem for the Labor Party is that the action they say that they have taken firmly, and now speedily has not brought a resolution.
Labor has been struggling with this for more than three years. That is despite repeated and serious promises to sort it out.
Inevitably, that raises questions, as we are about to enter the final fortnight of this campaign, about how capable the leadership is of getting to grips with tricky and sensitive issues.
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