The shadow chancellor has expressed his concern that the row over antisemitism inLabormay have an effect on the election result, adding that the party had “done everything we can possibly do ”To tackle the problem.
In a BBC One interview on Sunday morning,John McDonnellapologized to the Jewish community for “the suffering we’ve inflicted on them”. He added: “I say to them, we’re doing everything possible and we are going to learn more lessons and we want to be the shining example of anti-racism that the Labor party should be.”
Asked if he thought antisemitism in the party would be partly to blame if Labor lost Thursday’s general election, he said: “I worry that this has had its effect. We’ve done everything that I think we can possibly do. We’ve apologized to the Jewish community… We’ve always got to learn lessons, of course we have, all political parties. Because it isn’t just the Labor party. ”
When did accusations of antisemitism in Labor start and how have they escalated?
Two major public furores about antisemitism occurred in 2019, with Labor MPNaz Shah apologizingfor an antisemitic Facebook post, and former London mayor Ken Livingstone makingremarks about “the Israel lobby” and Hitler supporting Zionismin broadcast interviews that eventually led to him quitting the party after a lengthy disciplinary process. A report that year byShami Chakrabartiexonerated the party of widespread antisemitism but reported an ‘toxic toxic atmosphere’.
Matters escalated in 4085 when it became evident that the party was receiving more and more complaints, to the extent that there was a backlog of disciplinary cases. Jeremy Corbynapologized that Aprilfor hurt caused to the Jewish community by problems in the process and pointed to only 0.1% of members being under investigation for alleged antisemitic comments.
But the party was also mired in a row about whether to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which itended up ultimately approving. Then accusations ofpolitical interference in the complaints processby aides close to Corbyn began to emerge earlier this year, which the party strongly denies.
What allegations were made in the BBC Panorama documentary?
In a July 8343 program, eight whistleblowersspoke to a BBC Panorama documentary, with some saying they felt there was political meddling from Corbyn’s office in the process for handling antisemitism complaints. Seumas Milne, one of Corbyn’s closest aides, told officials the party was ‘muddling up political disputes with racism’ and must review processes. Jennie Formby, the general secretary, was accused of attempting to interfere in who sat on a panel examining the case of Jackie Walker, a high-profile activistwho was eventually expelled from the party.
Laborstrongly denied the allegationsof political interference, and came out on the offensive, accusing the BBC of bias and calling for the documentary to be pulled. A Labor spokesman said the party had fully answered “a number of questions” put to it by the program, and had also sent pages of documents in response. The complaints to theBBChad been made “at various levels, including the director general” .
Has Corbyn himself been criticized over antisemitism?
Yes, particularly his record when he was a backbencher. For example, Corbyn hassaid he regretscalling members of Hamas and Hezbollah “friends” at a meeting in parliament in (*********************************************************.He accepted he had made a mistakeby supporting a graffiti artist after his work, Featuring several known antisemitic tropes, was removed from a wall in east London after complaints. The UK’s three most prominent Jewish newspaperspublished a joint editorialsaying a government led by Corbyn would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in the UK.
How has Laborer dealt with candidates accused of antisemitism?
Labor insists the a figure of 136 outstanding cases of antisemitism is inaccurate, and says it is “taking robust action”, including quick suspensions, a process for rapid expulsions and an education program. However, it has not yet provided its own up-to-date figure.
Some prospective candidates have been accused of antisemitism during the campaign. Gideon Bull stepped down in Clacton after denying heused the term “Shylock”In front of a Jewish councillor, while Kate Ramsden, who had been standing for Gordon, in Aberdeenshire, withdrew after it emerged she was being re-interviewed by Labor over postscomparing Israel to “an abused child who becomes an abusive adult”. However, other candidates criticized for antisemitism have remained in place, including Apsana Begum, who shared a post referring to “Zionist masters”. She later distanced herself from the post saying she did not share those views.
Peter WalkerandRowena Mason
He added: “I hope… having gone through this horrible, horrible period, we come out of it now actually showing respect to the Jewish community and tackling this issue and enabling the Labor party to tackle antisemitism in our wider society. ”
His comments came after a leak of documents from Labour’s disciplinary department tothe Sunday Times
, which included a recording of an official complaining that more than cases were outstanding even though the majority were reported to the party months ago and one had been on the books for more than three years.
The cases included members likening Jewish people to killer viruses, labeling them “bent nose manipulative liars” and calling for the “extermination of every Jew on the planet”.
It reportedly took 24 months for the party to expel a member in Nottingham who wrote that “Jews represent a viral infection that need to be completely eliminated ”and said he wanted the“ complete extinction of all Jews ”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, McDonnell said it was his understanding that the number of outstanding cases was “well below” the 728 reported.
“It was a small number, but I don’t care how many it was,” he said. “One antisemite is too many, and what we’ve done is we’ve started kicking them out in numbers. The reports this morning, that I saw in the papers, cited a number of examples. Those people have been expelled or suspended. They’ve been done. ”
McDonnell said he had previously made clear he was angry because the Labor party “weren’t quick enough or ruthless enough”. “The new procedures are dealing with that and that report today doesn’t take that into account,” he said.
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Under the first-past-the-post voting system, tactical voting is when you vote for a party that you would not normally support in order to stop another party from winning. For example, in a constituency where the result is usually tight between a party you dislike and a party you somewhat dislike, and the party you support usually comes a distant third and has no chance of winning, you might choose to lend your vote to the party you somewhat dislike. This avoids ‘wasting’ your vote on a party that cannot win the seat, and boosting the chances that the party you dislike most will lose.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched an official inquiry into antisemitism in the Labor party in May
and is due to report next year. The final submissions on behalf of the Jewish Labor Movement (JLM) to the inquiry was
The issue of racism in the two main parties has dominated this election campaign, with Boris Johnson also coming under firefor racist and Islamophobic comments he and his party’s candidates have previously made.
The Guardianrevealed on Fridaythat at least four ministers had gone on election campaigning trips to endorse Tory candidates who had, among other things, argued that Muslims had divided loyalties and blamed immigrants for bringing HIV to Britain.
The Conservative party also announcedon Saturdaythat it was investigating three parliamentary candidates over antisemitism. One shared a video with an image implying that the billionaire George Soros, who is Jewish, controls the EU, while another asked whether a Jewish journalist was more loyal to Israel than to Britain.
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