Jeremy Corbyn FINALLY makes a grovelling apology for downplaying anti-Semitism within Labour

by

Jeremy Corbyn FINALLY makes a grovelling apology for downplaying anti-Semitism within Labour and pledges to help new leader Keir Starmer saying: ‘I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community’

By David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has issued a grovelling apology for downplaying the impact of anti-Semitism in the party as he fights demands that he be expelled.

The hard Left icon issued a lengthy mea culpa on Facebook this morning, admitting he had been wrong to criticise an independent report into the scale of racism aimed at Jews.

The official probe by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found Labour was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

But Mr Corbyn rejected some of the equality watchdog’s findings and claimed the issue had been ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’ by his critics. 

It prompted his suspension from the party and the removal of the whip as an MP, just seven months after he stepped down as Opposition Leader after four-and-a-half tumultuous years in charge. 

Writing on Facebook this morning he published a statement he privately made to the party that day, pledging support for Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to purge the party of anti-Semites.

Mr Corbyn revealed he had given the statement to Labour in an attempt to ‘clear up any confusion’ over his initial response and a broadcast interview given in the wake of the report. 

‘We must never tolerate anti-Semitism or belittle concerns about it. And that was not my intention in anything I said this week,’ he wrote.

‘I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would exacerbate or prolong it.

The hard Left icon issued a lengthy mea culpa on Facebook this morning, admitting he had been wrong to criticise an independent report into the scale of racism aimed at Jews

Writing on Facebook this morning he published a statement he privately made to the party that day, pledging support for Sir Keir Starmer's efforts to purge the party of anti-Semites

Writing on Facebook this morning he published a statement he privately made to the party that day, pledging support for Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to purge the party of anti-Semites

‘To be clear, concerns about anti-Semitism are neither ”exaggerated” nor ”overstated”. 

The point I wished to make was that the vast majority of Labour Party members were and remain committed anti-racists deeply opposed to anti-Semitism. 

‘Keir Starmer’s decision to accept all the EHRC recommendations in full and, in accordance with my own lifelong convictions, will do what I can to help the Party move on, united against anti-Semitism which has been responsible for so many of history’s greatest crimes against humanity.’ 

Allies of the former party leader had united behind him, demanding the party quash his suspension and threatening a lengthy court battle.

In his message today Mr Corbyn thanked his supporters, adding: ‘I’m grateful to the many thousands of Labour party members, trade unionists, and supporters in Britain and around the world, who have offered their solidarity.

‘I hope this matter is resolved as quickly as possible, so that the party can work together to root out antisemitism and unite to oppose and defeat this deeply damaging Conservative government.’

The charges against Labour in damning 130-page report

  • Labour breached the Equality Act 2010 by committing ‘unlawful harassment’ in two of the complaints investigated.  They included ‘using antisemitic tropes and suggesting that complaints of antisemitism were fake or smears’.
  • One of the cases involved Ken Livingstone, who in 2016 defended MP Naz Shah over claims of anti-Semitism by claiming there was a smear campaign by ‘the Israel lobby’ to undermine and disrupt Mr Corbyn’s leadership. He later resigned from the Labour Party after being suspended.
  • A further 18 cases were ‘borderline’, involving local councillors, local election candidates and Constituency Labour Party (CLP) officials. 
  • Analysis of 70 anti-Semitism complaint files found 23 incidences of ‘political interference’ by Mr Corbyn’s office and others. This included ‘clear examples of interference at various stages throughout the complaint handling process, including in decisions on whether to investigate and whether to suspend’ party members. 
  • The party’s complaints process was ‘inconsistent, poor, and lacking in transparency’. 
  • In cases where a complaint of anti-Semitism was upheld, it was ‘difficult to draw conclusions on whether the sanctions applied were fair and consistent’. 
  • Recommendations made by the watchdog include commissioning an independent process to handle anti-Semitism complaints and acknowledging the effect political interference has had and implementing clear rules to stop it happening again.