Labour Anti-Semitism Row Set To Reignite As MPs Claim Jew-Hatred Is ‘Normalised’ In Party

The anti-semitism row that threatened to engulf Labour looks set to flare up again as MPs prepare to tell Jeremy Corbyn the public see Jew-hatred as  “normalised” within party ranks. 

A PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) motion, seen by HuffPost UK, claims party boss Jennie Formby and Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), have intervened to screen out complaints and failed to expel perpetrators. 

If passed after a debate on Monday night, MPs will declare the leadership has failed to get a grip of the party’s anti-semitism crisis and demand answers to 11 key questions. 

The motion, tabled by Newcastle North’s Catherine McKinnell and signed by Stoke North’s Ruth Smeeth – who has been subject to anti-semitic abuse on social media – also calls for party leaders to outline what is being done to protect MPs. 

But allies of the leader have said the party is getting tougher on the problem and that it is “a red herring” to target Corbyn, as disciplinary cases are dealt with by a different Labour body, independent of the leadership – the National Constitution Committee. 

The strongly-worded motion comes after Jewish MPs and councillors faced a tide of anti-semitic abuse online, with many perpetrators using the Corbyn-supporting hashtag #JC4PM.

Jewish community leaders became enraged when the party dragged its feet in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

Tensions reached such a level that Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, chair of Jewish Labour, required a bodyguard to attend Labour conference in Liverpool last year.

Former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks accused Corbyn of failing to tackle Jew-hatred and Home Secretary Sajid Javid demanded a debate on the issue in Westminster.