Ian Austin: I am ashamed of the Labour party after anti-Semitism ruling
Furious Ian Austin said he is ashamed to be in the Labour party after it was accused of formally allowing its members to be anti-Semitic.
The Dudley North MP said he was appalled that Jeremy Corbyn and Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) had backed a controversial new code of conduct on anti-Semitism.
The move has met with an angry response from Jewish leaders and the party's MPs, with Dame Margaret Hodge reportedly launching an angry tirade against Mr Corbyn in the Commons, calling him a 'f****** anti-Semite'.
It came as Labour MP John Woodcock quit to stand as an independent, accusing Mr Corbyn of making the party 'unfit' for office and saying he 'would pose a clear risk to UK national security as prime minister'.
Mr Austin, a long-time opponent of Mr Corbyn, said the NEC's vote marked 'a dreadful day for Labour'.
He said: "Let's be really clear: Jeremy Corbyn and the members of Labour's NEC who supported this appalling decision clearly do not care about the immense distress and offence that has been caused to Britain's Jewish community."
"They have adopted a position on anti-Semitism that allows members to be anti-Semitic," he added.
"They clearly think they know more about anti-Semitism than the Chief Rabbi, dozens of other rabbis, organisations representing the vast majority of British Jews, Jewish MPs and members.
"I am ashamed to be a member of the Labour party."
He tweeted:
Labour's new code of conduct on anti-Semitism was drawn up after protests by Jewish groups against Labour's handling of the issue outside Parliament earlier this year.
It states anti-Semitism is racism but does not fully repeat the definition used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
It also says that criticism of the state of Israel and its policies should not automatically be regarded as anti-Semitic, and that 'contentious' comments on this issue 'will not be treated as anti-Semitism unless accompanied by specific anti-Semitic content… or by other evidence of anti-Semitic intent'.
Labour said the code addressed concerns about alleged anti-Semitic remarks by activists and better reflected the views of Jewish community groups.
In a joint statement, the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust, said Labour had adopted a 'watered-down' definition of anti-Semitism that would be met with 'incredulity and outrage by the overwhelming majority of the UK’s Jews'.
Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, said Labour had now 'formally adopted a position that allows its members to be anti-Semitic'.
