James Forsyth James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn must now confront Labour’s anti-Semitism problem

What is being said by senior figures in the Labour party about anti-Semitism at the moment is as depressing as it is jaw dropping. On the Today programme this morning, the Labour MP Rupa Huq—who went to Cambridge University—tried to play down the whole Naz Shah issue. She argued that sharing these kind of vile posts on Facebook was no big deal and not much different from her mocking Boris on Twitter for getting stuck on a zip-wire. She said that Shah had been subject to ‘trial by Twitter’.

If this was not bad enough, Ken Livingstone then went on BBC London to say that declaring that the ‘Jews are rallying’ is not anti-Semitic. If this was not offensive enough, he then argued that Hitler supported Zionism before he ‘went mad’. A slew of Labour MPs are calling for Livingstone’s suspension from the party.

This is a defining moment for Jeremy Corby and Labour. If he doesn’t take action now, then he will confirm that he simply isn’t interested in dealing with Labour’s growing anti-Semitism problem. At that point, it will be very hard for decent people to stay in the Labour party or to vote for it.

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