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Ian Austin: Shame over Labour's 'tolerance' of anti-Semitism

Ian Austin says every member of the Labour party should be ashamed after Jewish newspapers said anti-Semitism had been tolerated since Jeremy Corbyn became leader.

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Ian Austin

A joint editorial published by the country’s three most prominent Jewish publications attacked Labour’s decision not to fully absorb the internationally recognised definition of anti-Semitism into its code of conduct.

The front page story, which featured on the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News and Jewish Telegraph, also slammed the Labour party's wider record on the issue since Mr Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.

It said a Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in the UK, and that Labour had 'seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel' and now faced being seen as institutionally racist.

Britain's three biggest Jewish newspapers ran a joint editorial attacking the Labour party

Commenting on the joint editorial, Dudley North MP Mr Austin said: "This is unprecedented.

"Every member of the Labour party from Jeremy Corbyn down should be ashamed.

"Anti-Semitism in our party has caused huge offence and distress to the Jewish community and we must listen to them and take it much more seriously."

The papers said: “The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through her majesty’s opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.

“With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish community’s fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister.”

Jeremy Corbyn

It marks the latest episode in the long running row over anti-Semitism that has gripped the Labour party, and follows the refusal of the party’s ruling NEC to accept the full text of the working definition of anti-Semitism produced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Mr Austin added: "As a bare minimum, just as a first step, we must adopt the standard IHRA definition of anti-Semitism in full, including all the examples, then we have to respond properly to the Jewish community's reasonable requests and then we must boot the racists out. Boot them out."

Earlier this month 68 British rabbis signed a letter urging Labour 'to listen to the Jewish community', while there have also been protests outside Parliament over Mr Corbyn’s perceived failure to deal with anti-Semitism.

JLC chief executive Simon Johnson

Meanwhile Labour MP Margaret Hodge faces disciplinary action from the party after a confrontation with Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons over the issue, in which she called him an 'anti-Semitic racist'.

Simon Johnson, the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “This is quite something. First, a letter from 68 rabbis from all shades of observance. Now the three mainstream community papers unite.”

A Labour spokesperson said a Corbyn-led government posed 'no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people', and that their security was a priority.

However, the spokesperson added there is 'a huge amount of work to do' to build trust with the Jewish community.