Jewish Labour Movement demands action from Corbyn on anti-Semitism
Jeremy Corbyn has been warned that he needs to do more to tackle anti-Semitism or risk splitting Labourâs main Jewish group away from the party.
Members of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) agreed in an indicative vote to remain affiliated with the party, maintaining a link stretching back almost 100 years.
But the partyâs leadership was given a month to act on the groupâs concerns.
We have a simple message to the Labour Party, itâs Leadership, itâs MPs, its Cllrs. If you do not show solidarity with us, we will not show solidarity for you.
We will hold our AGM on the 7th of April. For now, we are staying to stand and fight.
â Jewish Labour Movement (@JewishLabour) March 6, 2019
And in a sign of how bitter the divide has become, Labour MPs who failed to sign a pledge of solidarity with the group were accused of âmoral cowardiceâ by one of their parliamentary colleagues, while another likened the problem to âfascismâ.
Hundreds of JLM members gathered at a synagogue in central London, with another meeting taking place in Manchester.
JLM national secretary Peter Mason said members had backed retaining their affiliation with Labour, which dates back to 1920.
âWe had an indicative vote this evening that we will stay, we will stand and we will fight against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party,â he said.
âThe message from the Jewish Labour Movement this evening was absolutely clear.
âIf the Labour Party fails to show solidarity to us, we will not show solidarity to it.
âThat counts for MPs who do not sign their names to letters showing solidarity with us, that counts for members of the Scottish Parliament, that counts for councillors.â
He added: âIt is very clear: we have set the tests that the leadership need to meet and we expect them to do that before our AGM on April 7.â
Labour MP Wes Streeting said it had been a âpainfulâ meeting and warned the party was âon noticeâ to address concerns.
đ¨updatedđ¨ as @JewishLabour meets tonight even more Labour MPs have signed our letter of solidarity with them â latest list here of those pledging to #standupspeakup against antisemitism and with our affiliate organisation. pic.twitter.com/SnKFs1HFLu
â stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) March 6, 2019
He hit out at colleagues for failing to sign up to a letter organised by fellow MP Stella Creasy expressing solidarity with Jewish members.
âIâm relieved that people are committed to staying and fighting but it is very clear, listening to what our Jewish colleagues and comrades and friends are saying, that we are so far away as a political party from having the trust and confidence of the Jewish community,â he told the Press Association.
âThis is ultimately about leadership and Jeremy Corbyn has to decide whether he is going to be a leader who repairs and strengthens or whether he is going to go down in history as the Labour leader who broke the Labour Party.â
Mr Streeting added: âMore than 100 Labour MPs signed a letter of solidarity with the Jewish Labour Movement. But where was the majority of my parliamentary colleagues and why are they showing such moral cowardice in the face of such pain from our Jewish members?
âThey have a responsibility to step up as well.â
Dame Margaret Hodge said it was an âemotional and angry but determinedâ meeting.
âI fought fascism on the right when I defeated the BNP, I will now fight fascism on the left,â the Barking and Dagenham MP said.
Dame Margaret said the scale of the problem makes it âutterly incredible to me that only 12 people have been expelledâ.
âIf there is zero tolerance of anti-Semitism, you have got to show that in your actions.â
The Labour leader defended the partyâs handling of anti-Semitism cases following accusations by Dame Margaret that members of his team interfered to reduce the sanctions that were imposed.
On Tuesday, Dame Margaret claimed that Mr Corbyn had either misled her or been misled himself about the extent of his teamâs involvement in such cases.
In a letter to the MP, Mr Corbyn acknowledged that a âvery small group of staffâ in his office were asked by the partyâs governance and legal unit (GLU) to help clear the backlog of cases that had built up.
Mr Corbyn said the help provided by staff from the Leader of the Oppositionâs Office (Loto) had been during the transition from former general secretary Iain McNicol to his successor Jennie Formby.