JEREMY Corbyn’s weekend attempt to end Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis has failed, with infighting continuing, his deputy being urged to quit and a senior activist being suspended.
Deputy leader Tom Watson said he would defy a social media campaign to get rid of him after he criticised the party’s handling of the issue under Mr Corbyn.
On Sunday, Mr Watson told the Observer that Labour risked disappearing into a “vortex of eternal shame” if it did not end the anti-Semitism problem in its ranks.
He said the party should adopt an international definition of anti-Semitism in full, instead of trying to rewrite it, and end disciplinary action against two MPs critical of Mr Corbyn.
His comments led to a backlash from supporters of the party leader, who urged him to quit.
A member of Labour’s Policy Forum was suspended on Monday for saying Mr Watson had taken “£50,000+ from Jewish donors”, adding: “At least Judas only got 30 pieces of silver”.
George McManus. from Yourkshire, apologised and deleted the Facebook post, and Labour launched an investigation after MP Luciana Berger called the remark “anti-Semitic”.
The pro-Corbyn Momentum group said Mr McManus’s remark had been “appalling” and he had “rightly been suspended from Labour”.
Mr Corbyn said at the weekend that those who spread “anti-Semitic poison” had no place in Labour, and those who denied there was a problem made matters worse.
He also issued a video in which he said he was “sorry” for the hurt felt by many Jewish people over the row.
However his intervention did not calm tempers, with Mr Watson’s critics setting up petitions to remove him and causing the #ResignWatson hashtag to trend on Twitter.
Mr Watson responded: “It sometimes feels like people have been calling for me to stand down from day one but I never, ever thought I’d be facing demands to #resignwatson for standing up for people who are facing prejudice and hate.”
Labour MP Wes Streeting tweeted: “Imagine demanding the resignation of our Deputy Leader because he’s called for meaningful action against racism.
“The absolute state of the #ResignWatson cesspit and those who swim in it. “
Last month Labour’s ruling body refused to adopt the full definition of anti-Semitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, omitting criticism of Israel.
The move inflamed many Labour MPs and led to claim a government led by Mr Corbyn would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in the UK.
Mr Corbyn claimed on Friday that Labour had adopted most of the definition, with the only dispute now over half of one of 11 examples given by the IHRA.
Marie Van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said Mr Corbyn would struggle to end the row until he fully owned up to his “problematic” past associations with anti-Semites.
Former Labour minister Yvette Cooper also urged Labour to adopt the IHRA definition.
She told BBC Radio 4 on Monday: “I think this problem that we are in is awful for the Labour party that’s got such a history of fighting racism. To be stuck in this mess, it’s an awful situation that we are in,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.
“I think it is not going to go away until the party adopts the international definition of antisemitism. I support Tom on this. I think the point is we need to address it.”
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