Jewish Labour Movement backs no confidence motion in Corbyn

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) has said it has no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership following the anti-Semitism rows in the party.

The no confidence vote was passed “overwhelmingly” at JLM’s annual general meeting, the group said.

A motion noting the “crisis of anti-Semitism” within the party since Mr Corbyn’s election as leader was passed “almost unanimously” at the meeting.

The group said there were were “strong speeches” from Labour MPs Dame Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth and Dame Louise Ellman at the event at a north London synagogue.

The no confidence motion was passed despite a plea from shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti not to “personalise” the issue by focusing on Mr Corbyn because he “won’t be leader forever”.

“My plea to the Jewish Labour Movement is to stay in the Labour movement and to tackle racism together, not to personalise it and make it about Jeremy Corbyn, because he is one person and he won’t be leader forever,” she said.

The JLM motion concludes that “the blame for both the crisis of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party and the party’s failure to deal with it … ultimately rests with Jeremy Corbyn”.

It added that “Jeremy Corbyn is therefore unfit to be prime minister” and “a Labour government led by him would not be in the interest of British Jews”.

Speaking after the meeting, Liverpool Riverside MP Dame Louise said the no confidence vote reflected the “deep anger about the Labour Party’s failure to address anti-Semitism”.

Stoke North MP Ruth Smeeth said she felt “sick” after the meeting and added: “Jewish members of the Labour Party have come together in anger and frustration to make it clear to the leadership that enough really must be enough.”

The JLM meeting took place after Labour again found itself embroiled in a row over its handling of anti-Semitism complaints.

The Sunday Times said it had seen leaked internal documents which showed the party’s system for dealing with complaints had been beset by delays, inaction and interference from the leader’s office.

Some members investigated for posting comments online such as “Heil Hitler” and “Jews are the problem” had not been expelled despite complaints being made a year ago, while Mr  Corbyn’s office had been involved in approving, delaying or blocking at least 101 complaints, the paper reported.

But Labour said lines from internal emails had been “selectively leaked” to “misrepresent their overall contents”, adding that it was “committed” to rooting out anti-Semitism within the party.

According to The Sunday Times, the hard drive of emails and a confidential database last updated on March 8 also showed that a trade union official was readmitted after being accused of sharing material saying “Jewish Israelis” were behind 9/11.

In another case, a Labour official ruled a council candidate accused of describing Jewish MPs as “Zionist infiltrators” met the threshold for suspension, but then ruled he should not be suspended as he “is a candidate”, the paper said.

It reported that 454 of 863 complaints were unresolved, including 249 where the party had not started an investigation, and that of 409 cases where a decision was reached, 191 members faced no further action, 145 received a formal warning and fewer than 30 were expelled.

Labour said the figures quoted in the story were “not accurate”.

A spokeswoman said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and we are committed to rooting it out of our party. All complaints about anti-Semitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures. We can’t comment on individual cases.

“Lines have been selectively leaked from emails to misrepresent their overall contents.

“One of the emails shows the General Secretary’s Office ending the practice started by former staffers of asking the Leader’s Office for their help with clearing the backlog of cases. This practice lasted for a few weeks while there was no general secretary, and was ended by Jennie Formby.”

Lady Chakrabarti, who led a review into anti-Semitism allegations in the party, told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “Jennie Formby is a very strong general secretary who is committed to making this a priority.

“So there is no interference from Jeremy Corbyn or his staff in the disciplinary process.”

Other emails are reported to show Thomas Gardiner, head of Labour’s governance and legal unit, frustrating efforts by a member of his staff to fast-track an investigation.

A Labour Party source said: “These emails show Thomas Gardiner arguing for an anti-Semitism complaint to be recorded as anti-Semitism, in line with the Macpherson principle, and to ensure the case is dealt with through the fast-tracked anti-Semitism procedures.

“In another email Thomas makes clear it’s right and appropriate that Jennie Formby had ended the practice of LOTO (leader of the opposition’s office) being asked for help with cases, and it is untrue and misleading to say LOTO are involved as there is a firewall between the complaints process and the Leader’s Office. He was outlining and supporting this process.”

Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “The Sunday Times investigation shows that our demands to root out anti-Jewish racism have been treated with utter contempt. Rather than own up to the problem, the Labour leadership has put its efforts into a cover-up operation.

“Any claims to a politically independent system can now be seen as a total sham.

“Labour must now urgently open up its processes to scrutiny by the Jewish community.

“We stand united with all decent people in the fight against ugly racism.​”