Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) was facing a row about the intimidation of the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg
Labour must ‘do more’ to show it is not ‘racist’, a watchdog warned today after an outbreak of intimidation and anti-Semitism at the party’s annual conference.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission demanded ‘swift action’ from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership to expel those who make unacceptable comments.
The intervention came as delegates in Brighton prepare to discuss a motion that would toughen the stance on anti-Semitism.
At a fringe meeting last night activists applauded a speaker who likened supporters of Israel to Nazis.
Another even suggested Labour should be free to debate whether the Holocaust had happened.
Mr Corbyn was also facing a row about intimidation of Laura Kuenssberg. The BBC’s political editor has been given a bodyguard following threats from Left-wingers at the conference.
A Labour shadow minister yesterday claimed using an ex-soldier for protection was a ‘ploy’ to demonise hardliners.
Chris Williamson, who is a close ally of Mr Corbyn, refused to say whether party members who abused Miss Kuenssberg should be expelled.
And he questioned whether anyone in Labour was involved, saying: ‘People join the Labour Party because they are caring individuals. They are not the sort of people that indulge in intimidation and violence.’
But equalities watchdog chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said: ‘Anti-semitism is racism and the Labour Party needs to do more to establish that it is not a racist party.
‘A zero tolerance approach to anti-semitism should mean just that. When senior party figures are saying there is a problem then the leadership should take swift action. It is not acceptable to simply say they oppose these views.
‘These comments by party members show more needs to be done to root out anti-Semitic views that clearly exist in the party. Any suggestion of kicking people out of any political party on the grounds of race or religion should be condemned.’
Andrew Percy, a former Tory minister who has also been the target of anti-Semitic abuse, last night described Labour as the ‘new nasty party’.
He said Labour appeared to be in the grip of a ‘frightening’ cult. ‘What we are seeing is really dangerous,’ he added. ‘The idea that the political editor of the BBC would need a bodyguard to attend the conference of the official opposition should appal all decent people in politics.
‘The kind of anti-Semitic abuse we are seeing is also something that has not been part of our political system until the past couple of years.
‘There is a cult of personality around Jeremy Corbyn that will not allow any questioning of him or his views.
Mr Corbyn (pictured with Emily Thornberry in Brighton) was urged to act after activists applauded panellists at a fringe meeting who likened supporters of Israel to Nazis
‘It is deeply sinister, nasty and quite frightening. These people are genuinely extreme.’ Sheryll Murray, a Tory MP who had swastikas daubed on her general election posters, said: ‘From what we’ve seen today at the Labour conference, it feels like things are getting worse rather than better.
‘I worry it’s putting good people off from working in politics. It’s hardly the kinder, gentler politics that Jeremy Corbyn promised.’
Yesterday’s events horrified moderate Labour MPs. Former deputy leader Harriet Harman urged Mr Corbyn to condemn the abuse of Miss Kuenssberg. In a message on Twitter she said: ‘Is this from the Left? If it is, it’s even worse as the Left is supposed to be for equality and women’s rights and online trolls is about silencing women.’
Fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips said: ‘Let’s clean up our act please. Women’s safety is the reason we champion the Uber action for example. Let’s walk the walk.’
Senior Labour MPs last night urged Mr Corbyn to take action against rising anti-Semitism in the party.
John Cryer, who is chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, said some social media postings from supporters were ‘redolent of the 1930s’ and ‘made your hair stand on end’. Labour denies building a personality cult around Mr Corbyn.
But criticism of the party leader is so frowned on that senior figures yesterday refused to accept he had even lost the general election.
Senior Labour MPs last night urged Mr Corbyn to take action against rising anti-Semitism in the party
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite trade union, yesterday rounded on ‘traitors’ in the party, telling cheering activists at the Brighton conference: ‘Let me say this to those merchants of doom, the whingers and the whiners who say we should have done better, we didn’t win. I say we did win.’
Cat Smith, a member of the Shadow Cabinet and close ally of Mr Corbyn, said: ‘We didn’t win the general election, but we didn’t lose the general election either.’
Mr Corbyn has previously faced criticism for failing to deal with anti-Semitism – including failure to expel former London mayor and ex-Labour MP Ken Livingstone for claiming that Adolf Hitler supported Zionism.
A Labour spokesman last night said Mr Corbyn was now tightening up the rules on those who make anti-Semitic comments.
He said the party ‘condemns anti-Semitism in the strongest possible terms’ and ‘will not tolerate Holocaust denial’.
Corbynistas’ applause for vile anti-Semitic rants amid calls to expel Jewish group
By Daniel Martin, Policy Editor for the Daily Mail
Pro-Corbyn activists applauded speakers who delivered vile anti-Semitic rants at the Labour conference yesterday.
Delegates at a fringe event demanded the expulsion of the Jewish Labour Movement from the party for supporting the state of Israel.
One compared ‘Zionists’ to the Nazis and claimed it was part of free speech to be able to ask the question: ‘Holocaust: yes or no.’
Pro-Corbyn activists applauded speakers who delivered vile anti-Semitic rants at the Labour conference yesterday
The event, which took place outside the main Labour conference venue but was listed in its official handbook, was titled: ‘Free speech on Israel: why we oppose the witch hunt.’
Several attendees said claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party were part of a plot by the pro-Israel lobby and the Labour right to stop Jeremy Corbyn from becoming prime minister. And some spoke up in favour of former London mayor Ken Livingstone who remains suspended from the party for claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.
The statements exposed that anti-Semitism is still a big problem in Mr Corbyn’s party more than a year after he pledged to get to grips with the issue. It came as:
÷ A leaflet was circulated at the conference from ‘Labour Party Marxists’ discussing the ‘commonality between Zionists and Nazis’ and quoting Reinhard Heydrich, the architect of the Final Solution, saying ‘National Socialists had no intention of attacking Jewish people’.
÷ The chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, John Cryer, said he had seen tweets from party members which made his hair stand on end and were ‘redolent of the 1930s’.
÷ Another Labour MP, Wes Streeting, criticised Mr Corbyn, saying there were ‘too many people in our party, including at the top of the party, who have adopted an ostrich strategy’ on anti-Semitism.
÷ Fellow MP John Mann said 200 Labour members had forwarded him links to a US white supremacist site to back up Mr Livingstone’s claims about Zionism;
÷ The Holocaust Educational Trust suggested that in the two years since Mr Corbyn was elected there was a ‘fertile ground’ for people to express such views.
÷ Analysis released last night by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism found the problem is worse in Labour than any other party. The group looked at 4million social media posts of 2,000 parliamentary candidates and found that 61 per cent of anti-Semitic posts were written by Labour candidates – eight times higher than any other party.
The controversial meeting on ‘free speech on Israel’ was chaired by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, who said there was a ‘vicious campaign that’s been directed at the Palestinian cause, misusing anti-Semitic allegations’. Although described as a free speech event audience members were told not to record it or tweet.
Miko Peled, an Israeli-American who sat on the panel, said ‘they’ – an apparent reference to Israel or the pro-Israel lobby – did not want Mr Corbyn to enter Number 10. ‘This is about free speech, the freedom to criticise and to discuss every issue, whether it’s the Holocaust: yes or no, Palestine, the liberation, the whole spectrum. There should be no limits on the discussion.’
He added: ‘It’s about the limits of tolerance: we don’t invite the Nazis and give them an hour to explain why they are right; we do not invite apartheid South Africa racists to explain why apartheid was good for the blacks, and in the same way we do not invite Zionists – it’s a very similar kind of thing.’
Michael Kalmanovitz, from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, was applauded for calling from the audience for the expulsion from Labour of the Jewish Labour Movement and the Labour Friends of Israel.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘Labour condemns anti-Semitism in the strongest terms. We will not tolerate anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.’