Labour a ‘welcoming refuge’ for antisemitism under Corbyn, says Jewish group’s dossier

Jeremy Corbyn has made Labour a “welcoming refuge” for antisemitism, a dossier submitted to Britain’s human rights watchdog warns.

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) claimed top party officials were “ignoring, denying, relativising and accepting” antisemitism in the document which was leaked on Friday.

It accused Mr Corbyn of “publicly supporting antisemites and antisemitic tropes” under a party “cast in his image” that is now “institutionally antisemitic”.

Lawyers for JLM said 70 current and former Labour staff have given evidence against the party’s handling of antisemitism to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Labour is the second political party to have ever been probed by the watchdog, after the British National Party (BNP).

The leaked document, which included evidence gathered over 13 months up until November, concluded: “The Labour Party is no longer a safe space for Jewish people or for those who stand up against antisemitism.

“That is the disturbing but inevitable conclusion from the evidence that JLM has put before the commission over the course of the past 13 months.”

Mr Corbyn responded by insisting he did not interfere with cases and there were only a “small number” that were “in-train”.

“I deeply regret there is an antisemitism in our society,” he added. “Obviously I regret the way in which some people have been hurt by it and I do not want that to be the case.”

The Labour Party added claims anyone had been instructed to lie were “categorically untrue” and that the number of outstanding cases, reported by JLM as 136, was “not accurate”.

JLM, which has been affiliated with the Labour Party for 99 years, said testimony it had compiled led it to believe that Labour had “made the political calculation that antisemitism is a price worth paying to maintain its internal party unity”.

It said there are “no credible figures” for how many complaints are waiting to be dealt with.

In one of the complaints, one party member was reported to have said: “The only reason we have prostitutes in Seven Sisters is because of the Jews”.

Another party member reportedly “objected to 25 applications for membership from the ultra-orthodox Jewish community, and required home visits to these prospective members’ houses” in Tottenham, north London.

JLM said it became a “frequent occurrence” for Mr Corbyn’s staff to ask to be copied into emails about antisemitism complaints, who then suggested or denied a sanction based on “ideas about the political persuasion of staff and the complainant”.

One party official allegedly demanded batches of complaints to be uploaded onto USB sticks and delivered to Mr Corbyn’s staff office for them to “make recommendations” on further action.

The woman who was told to do so was also “instructed to lie to anyone who asked her where she was going, or what she was doing”, the group said.

At a press conference held by JLM and its lawyers following the leak, whistleblower Sam Matthews, who was head of disputes at Labour, said the “intolerable” problem of antisemitism within the party had left him considering taking his own life.

“I witnessed first hand the complete failure of the party processes to adequately deal with anti-Jewish racism,” he said.

“By the end of my time there, I witnessed daily interference in the process meaning that my team and I, who were responsible for discipline in the party, were simply unable to do our jobs.

“During a prolonged period, my team and I were put in the intolerable position of witnessing widespread racism in the party, and not having the support from those above us to tackle the problem effectively.

“A problem so intolerable that it directly affected the mental health of myself and my team, to the point where, by the end, I considered taking my own life.”

He said the other whistleblowers, some who still work for the party, are “fearful of retribution” from Labour.

James Libson, one of the lawyers who worked on the document, said it is all based on legal statements and is “the culmulative effect of a lot of really horrible stuff”.

“Seeing the effect of the processes not working in the party they love has been horrible even for cold-hearted lawyers,” he said.

Last month Mr Corbyn was attacked by the UK’s most senior Jewish leader, chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who said: “A new poison – sanctioned from the very top – has taken root in the Labour Party.”

The Labour leader then came under further criticism because he refused four times to apologise during an interview with Andrew Neil.

Earlier this week, Mr Corbyn did apologise.

“Our party and me do not accept antisemitism in any form… obviously I’m very sorry for everything that has happened,” he said.

“But I want to make this very clear: I am dealing with it, I have dealt with it, other parties are also affected by antisemitism.”

Labour says it has doubled the number of staff working on cases.

:: Listen to Campaign Unwrapped on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Spreaker

Joan Ryan, who defected from Labour to The Independent Group earlier this year, said on Friday she would not be voting for Mr Corbyn because he is an “extremist”.

“The antisemitism he has allowed to infect our party – every opportunity he has had to deal with it, he has walked away,” she claimed.

“His actions speak louder than words – if you’re not with him, you’re against him.”

The EHRC announced its investigation earlier this year and is expected to report its findings in early 2020, after it was delayed by the General Election.

(c) Sky News 2019: Labour a ‘welcoming refuge’ for antisemitism under Corbyn, says Jewish group’s dossier