Jeremy Corbyn attacked the Chief Rabbi tonight saying he was ‘wrong’ to accuse Labour of failing to tackle anti-Semitism – as the party leader refused four times to apologise to British Jews.
In a stinging pre-election interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil, Mr Corbyn said he wanted to have ‘a discussion’ with Ephraim Mirvis after he accused the left-winger of allowing the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour
The Labour leader was challenged over Mr Mirvis’s allegation that Labour’s claims it is doing everything to tackle anti-Jewish racism was a ‘mendacious fiction’.
‘No, he’s not right. Because he would have to produce the evidence to say that’s mendacious,’ Mr Corbyn replied.
He insisted he has ‘developed a much stronger process’ and had sanctioned and removed members who have been anti-Semitic.
Mr Corbyn also denied that the blight increased after he took over the party, saying: ‘It didn’t rise after I became leader.
In a stinging pre-election interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil, Mr Corbyn said he wanted to have ‘a discussion’ with Ephraim Mirvis
The Labour leader was challenged over Rabbi Mirvis’s allegation that Labour’s claims it is doing everything to tackle anti-Jewish racism was a ‘mendacious fiction’.
The veteran left-winger had to dodge protests outside the launch of the party’s ‘race and faith’ manifesto in London this morning
‘Anti-Semitism is there in society, there are a very, very small number of people in the Labour Party that have been sanctioned as a result about their anti-Semitic behaviour.’
But he repeatedly refused to apologise when asked by Mr Neil.
‘We will not allow anti-Semitism in any form in our society because it is poisonous and divisive, just as much as Islamophobia or far-right racism is,’ Mr Corbyn said.
Mr Corbyn insisted he had ‘strengthened the processes’ since a written warning was given to a member who questioned the murder toll of the Holocaust.
Mr Corbyn was quizzed on Brexit, his tax plans and borrowing as part of a series of BBC interviews with those vying to become the next prime minister.
Twitter users claiming to by Corbyn supporters vented fury at the Chief Rabbi, branding him a ‘sewer rat’ and also turned their fire on Mr Welby
But much of Tuesday’s discussion with The Andrew Neil Interviews focused on anti-Semitism after Ephraim Mirvis’s unprecedented intervention warning Mr Corbyn was unfit to lead the nation.
Mr Mirvis was labelled a ‘sewer rat’ by Corbynistas online after claiming that the vast majority of British Jews were ‘gripped by anxiety’ at the idea of Mr Corbyn in No 10 after the election in December.
One critic used an anti-Semitic trope, complaining of ‘Israeli interference’ in the election after South Africa-born Mr Mirvis’s intervention.
Others accused him of being a close friend of Boris Johnson, suggesting he was speaking out for party political reasons.
He accused Mr Corbyn of allowing the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour, saying it could no longer claim to be the party of diversity, equality and anti-racism.
Urging voters to examine their consciences in the polling booth, he warned: ‘The very soul of our nation is at stake.’
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, waded into the row today by saying the rabbi’s intervention should ‘alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews’.
The Chief Rabbi took aim at Mr Corbyn for supporting a racist mural and for describing terrorists who endorse the murder of Jews as ‘friends’.
Mr Welby said: ‘That the Chief Rabbi should be compelled to make such an unprecedented statement at this time ought to alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews.’
And current and former Labour politicians also weighed in behind Rabbi Mirvis.
Jess Philips, who is defending her Birmingham Yardley seat, said: ‘The only response to the chief Rabbi that is moral is, ‘I’m sorry and I’ll do whatever I possibly can to win back your community’s trust.’ So that’s what I will say.’
The warning from the Rabbi came as Mr Corbyn prepared to launch his party’s ‘race and faith manifesto’ this morning, which includes a plan to hold an inquiry into far-Right extremism.
It propose to teach all schoolchildren about the ‘injustice’ of the British empire.
And it accuses the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog – which is investigating Labour over institutional anti-Semitism – of not being ‘truly independent’.
In his attack, in an article for The Times, the Chief Rabbi wrote: ‘The way in which the leadership of the Labour Party has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud – of dignity and respect for all people
Mr Corbyn was also pressed tonight over his plan to broker a ‘credible’ Leave deal with the EU and then be neutral in a referendum along with Remain within six months of taking power.
‘I will be the honest broker that will make sure the referendum is fair and make sure that the Leave deal is a credible one,’ he said.
‘That seems to me actually an adult and sensible way to go forward.’
But Mr Corbyn was unable to say who would campaign for his Brexit deal, with much of his shadow cabinet eager to campaign for Remain.
On his taxation plans, Mr Corbyn denied that a significant part his income tax base would leave the country if he took power.
‘No, it doesn’t crumble at all,’ he said. ‘They can see all around them the crumbling of public services and the terrible levels of child poverty that exist across Britain.
‘There is no reason why they would have to leave the country and they shouldn’t.’
He was quizzed over how he would increase borrowing.
‘We are not going to willy-nilly borrow, what we are going to do is deal with the worst aspects of what’s happened in austerity, the worst aspects of poverty in Britain,’ he said.
‘We known from history, what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews’: Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’s message in full
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said Labour’s inaction on anti-Semitism has left many ‘ashamed’
The overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety. The question I am most frequently asked is: What will become of Jews and Judaism in Britain if the Labour Party forms the next government?
The Jewish community has… learned the hard way that speaking out means that we will be demonised… and accused of being partisan or acting in bad faith by those who still think of this as an orchestrated political smear. Yet, I ask myself: should the victims of racism be silenced by the fear of yet further vilification?
The way in which the leadership of the Labour Party has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud. It has left many decent Labour members and parliamentarians, both Jewish and non-Jewish, ashamed.
It is a failure to see this as a human problem rather than a political one. It is a failure of leadership. A new poison – sanctioned from the very top – has taken root in the Labour Party.
Many members of the Jewish community can hardly believe this is the same party that they proudly called their political home for more than a century.
How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be in order to be considered unfit for high office? Would associations with those who have openly incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would describing as ‘friends’ those who endorse and even perpetrate the murder of Jews be enough? It seems not. What we do know from history is that what starts with the Jews, never ends with the Jews.
It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I simply pose the following question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country? I ask every person to vote with their conscience. Be in no doubt – the very soul of our nation is at stake.
Jeremy Corbyn’s dubious stage-mates: Labour wannabe-MPs who were caught sharing posts about ‘mass murdering Rothschilds’ and ‘Zionist masters’ stand alongside leader as he brands anti-Semitism ‘vile’
Jeremy Corbyn was facing accusations of hypocrisy today after branding anti-Semitism ‘vile’ while flanked by two Labour activists involved in controversies involving attacks on Jews.
The Labour leader said the abuse would not be ‘tolerated by a Labour government after the UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said said the majority of Jews were ‘gripped by anxiety’ about his potential election victory.
The veteran left-winger had to dodge protests outside the launch of the party’s ‘race and faith’ manifesto in London.
And when he finally took to the stage he showed no regret for his handling of the wave of abuse wracking Labour – avoiding directly addressing the stinging criticism from the Jewish community and merely insisting anti-Semitism is ‘vile and wrong’.
But while on stage in north London at lunchtime he was flanked by Claudia Webbe and Apsana Begum.
Ms Webbe, who is standing in Leicester East at the election, criticised a decision to suspend Ken Livingstone when he was mayor of London for comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.
And Ms Begum is standing in Poplar and Limehouse in East London, despite apologising for Facebook posts including one which suggested Saudi Arabia’s leaders were ‘inspired by their Zionist masters’.
Also with the Labour leader was Afzal Khan, the shadow immigration minister, who apologised in July for sharing ‘an anti-Semitic conspiracy’ on Facebook in 2015.
Tory Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the situation was ‘outrageous’.
While on stage in north London at lunchtime today Mr Corbyn was joined by Claudia Webbe and Apsana Begum
Jeremy Corbyn defiantly refused to apologise over Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis today after Britain’s chief rabbi warned he is not fit to be PM
‘Corbyn, accused of anti-Semitism by the Chief Rabbi, responds by going on stage with know anti-Semites. We must stop this dangerous man.’
And fellow Tory candidate Michael Fabricant added: ‘And Corbyn claims that Labour are rigorous about expelling anti-Semites. Judge him by the friends he keeps.’
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, accused Mr Corbyn of ‘gaslighting Britain’s Jews’ – a form of psychological manipulation that makes people doubt their own sanity.
The selection of Ms Webbe, a councillor in Mr Corbyn’s Islington constituency in London, to fight the Leicester seat vacated by the disgraced Keith Vaz, prompted the resignation of a senior local party official.
John Thomas, the chairman of the Leicester East CLP, described the selection process as a ‘fix’ and a ‘disgrace’ in a letter to Labour general secretary Jennie Formby.
Ms Webbe is a former adviser to ex-mayor of London Mr Livingstone and worked on his election bids in 2000 and 2004.
She stood up for Mr Livingstone when he was suspended in 2005 for comparing a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
She wrote to The Guardian, saying the suspension ‘smacked in the face of true democracy’, adding: ‘His history of work in the anti-racist movement is unquestionable.’
Apsana Begum’s candidacy in East London was also criticised.
In 2017 she shared a Facebook post criticising Saudi Arabia and suggesting its leaders were ‘inspired by their Zionist masters’.
At the time she said she had not made the post herself but shared it ‘because I was concerned with the treatment of pilgrims who were being harassed in the Mecca Grand Mosque’. She said she would not use the words herself and was ‘committed to fighting anti-Semitism’.
Mr Khan shared a Facebook post in 2015 when he was a Labour MEP.
It featured a video of a US comedian talking about Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, with accompanying text describing a ‘Israel-British-Swiss-Rothschilds crime syndicate’ and ‘mass murdering Rothschilds Israeli mafia criminal liars’.
After it was exposed he told the BBC he was ‘mortified and sincerely sorry’ and had not read the text at the time.
Veteran left-winger Mr Corbyn had to dodge protests outside the launch of the party’s ‘race and faith’ manifesto in London.
And when he finally took to the stage he showed no regret for his handling of the wave of abuse wracking Labour – avoiding directly addressing the stinging criticism from the Jewish community and merely insisting anti-Semitism is ‘vile and wrong’.
Answering questions from reporters, Mr Corbyn was pressed on whether he had ‘failed’ and said he had toughened up the party’s complaints process.
He said there was an ‘open door’ to faith leaders. ‘I am very happy to engage with anybody,’ he said.
But he was immediately contradicted by one of his own peers, Lord Falconer, who said it was a ‘failure of leadership’ that ‘a lot of cases’ have not been properly investigated – adding that the rabbi’s condemnation was ‘justified’.
The event started 45 minutes late and Mr Corbyn did not arrive until well after it began, with speakers including shadow home secretary Diane Abbott going first.
Corbynistas have been making vile attacks on Rabbi Mirvis after he delivered a devastating verdict on the Labour leadership – and was backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Making an unprecedented intervention, Rabbi Mirvis said the vast majority of British Jews were ‘gripped by anxiety’ at the idea of Mr Corbyn in No 10.
He accused Mr Corbyn of allowing the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour, saying it could no longer claim to be the party of diversity, equality and anti-racism.
Urging voters to examine their consciences in the polling booth, he warned: ‘The very soul of our nation is at stake.’
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, waded into the row today by saying the rabbi’s intervention should ‘alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews’.
But both religious leaders were subjected to a vicious backlash on social media, with Rabbi Mirvis branded a ‘sewer rat’ and complaints of ‘Israeli interference’.
Mr Corbyn arrived through the back door to the race and faith manifesto launch about 50 minutes after it was due to start amid cries of ‘racist’ and ‘oh Jeremy Corbyn’ between critics and supporters.
The Labour leader hurried into the venue from his van and through a media pack.
Mr Corbyn said there was ‘absolutely no place whatsoever in any shape or form’ for anti-Semitism, calling it ‘an evil within our society’.
‘Under a Labour government it will not be tolerated in any form whatsoever.’ He said the Chief Rabbi was welcome to come ’round the table’ and talk about how to stamp out racism.
Mr Corbyn said Labour had a ‘rapid process’ for dealing with complaints about anti-Semitism – although whistleblowers have claimed that dozens of cases have been effectively swept under the carpet.
The veteran left-winger had to dodge protests outside the launch of the party’s ‘race and faith’ manifesto in London
Ephraim Mirvis (pictured) said the vast majority of British Jews were ‘gripped by anxiety’ at the idea of Jeremy Corbyn in No 10
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, waded into the row today by saying the rabbi’s intervention should ‘alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews’
Protesters had gathered (pictured) outside the manifesto event in London today
Posters outside the venue in north London bore the message: ‘Keep anti-Semitism out of Downing Street.’
Mr Corbyn left the stage after his speech – but later returned to face questions from reporters.
‘I invite the chief rabbi, I invite the archbishop of Canterbury, I invite all the other faith leaders to come talk to us about what their concerns are,’ he said.
‘But be absolutely sure of this assurance from me: no community will be at risk because of their identity, their faith, their ethnicity, or their language.’
Earlier, the Chief Rabbi took aim at Mr Corbyn for supporting a racist mural and for describing terrorists who endorse the murder of Jews as ‘friends’.
Mr Welby said: ‘That the Chief Rabbi should be compelled to make such an unprecedented statement at this time ought to alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews.’
The warnings came as Mr Corbyn prepared to launch his party’s ‘race and faith manifesto’, which includes a plan to hold an inquiry into far-Right extremism.
It also proposes to teach all schoolchildren about the ‘injustice’ of the British Empire.