Just how far the rot of anti-Semitism has spread within the Labour Party was illustrated today by the roll call of grim revelations contained within the Jewish Labour Movement’s official complaint to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Many of these incidents were already known, but seeing them laid out one after another was powerful. What was a revelation, and of the most damning sort, was the fact that the key members of Corbyn’s staff not only determinedly denied an issue existed but repeatedly interfered in supposedly impartial disciplinary processes meant to root out antisemitism. These interventions prevented antisemites from facing serious consequences, let alone expulsion.
These explosive and revolting charges will likely mean that Labour’s latest big-ticket announcements – two five year plans to end homelessness in five years and to recruit 25,000 more teachers to ensure no class is bigger than 30 students – will not receive the attention they otherwise would have. It will also conceal the news that Labour’s dramatic promise to restore WASPI pensions will in fact disproportionately benefit the rich, while poorer pensioners may end up no better off. Still this is a bit like saying at the least the outbreak of plague will distract from a major gas leak. Coming out just one week before the election the leaked JLM complaint is poisonous.
