Jeremy Corbyn Concedes UK Labour May Have ‘Ignored’ Evidence of Anti-Semitism
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has privately conceded evidence of anti-Semitism within his left wing party was “mislaid or ignored”, leaked recordings suggest.
The revelation comes in a Sunday Times report which published part of a conversation the party leader had with fellow member Dame Margaret Hodge, which she taped.
The newspaper said it was during an exchange about him outlining his intention to appoint former cabinet minister Lord Falconer to review Labour’s complaints process. Corbyn was quoted as saying:
The point of him (Falconer) is that he will look at the speed of dealing with cases, the administration of them, and the collation of the evidence before it is put before appropriate panels and things.
Because I was concerned that evidence was either being mislaid, ignored or not used and that there had to be some better system.
According to the newspaper, the veteran Labour member also revealed that he had been a target of abuse, and he reportedly said: “You see, I get a huge amount of abusive stuff, mostly, some of it’s quite threatening, you know, murder and stuff.”
The reports come a week after the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) – which has 2,000 members and has been affiliated for almost a century – passed a motion of no confidence in the Labour leader over his handling of the anti-Semitism row that has engulfed the party.
Revealed: Majority 85% of British Jews Believe Jeremy Corbyn Is Anti-Semitic https://t.co/slIsVAw2RP
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 14, 2018
Labour has long battled accusations of systemic anti-Semitism both within its ranks and at the very top of its leadership.
Last December Jeremy Corbyn was personally named in fourth place in the list of the ten worst anti-Semitic incidents worldwide in 2018 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organisation that researches the Holocaust and contemporary anti-Semitism.
The center also highlighted Corbyn’s association with Middle Eastern terror organisations and anti-Israel hate groups, including the radical Jewish group “Jewdas” which called Israel “a steaming pile of sewage, which needs to be properly disposed of.”