Prime Minister Theresa May strongly condemned antisemitism in the Labour Party at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, stating that Labour council leaders have been forced out for tackling the issue.
The Prime Minister asked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: “I wonder whether he supports these councils: Haringey, where the Labour leader was forced out; Brighton, where the Labour leader was forced out; and Cornwall, where the Labour group leader was forced out”.
She underlined: “What had these people done? They had supported building more homes, providing good local services and tackling antisemitism in the Labour party. The message is clear: if you believe in good local services, want to see more homes built and want to tackle antisemitism, there is no place for you in the Labour Party”.
Mr Corbyn did not address the issue of antisemitism in his response. Read the exchange here.
On Thursday, Labour suspended a prospective council candidate who called the Holocaust a ‘hoax’ and shared antisemitic posts online, in the latest incident of antisemitism in the party.
This month, it was revealed that the Labour leader was reportedly a member of a secret Facebook group that hosted antisemitic material, including Holocaust denial theories.
The Labour leader’s comments in a group called “Palestine Live” were unearthed by David Collier, an antisemitism researcher. The group has about 3,000 members, including Holocaust deniers, white supremacists and anti-Semites, who have to be invited or added by administrators.
Mr Corbyn, who left the group shortly after becoming Labour leader in 2015, made a few comments under group posts. Asked whether Mr Corbyn had known about antisemitic posts when using the group, a spokesman said: “I’m sure that he didn’t”. There is no evidence that Mr Corbyn himself posted any antisemitic comments on the site.
