Labour Archives | MelaniePhillips.com

An odious political symmetry

February 19, 2019February 20, 2019 Melanieantisemitism, centre ground, independents, Labour

We are being led to believe that a fearful political symmetry is developing which has to be avoided at all costs, exemplified by the seven MPs who resigned the Labour whip on Monday. The seven MPs – Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker, and Ann Coffey — said they were resigning the Labour whip to sit as independent MPs in protest at two issues: that the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is facilitating Brexit rather than pressing for the second referendum that they want to…

Britain

The Labour party’s out-of-body antisemitism experience

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Corbyn, Labour, Thornberry

When Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry spoke last week at the annual Limmud Jewish cultural festival in Birmingham, she declared in relation to the accusation that the Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was an antisemite: “I don’t believe there is a racist or antisemitic bone in his body”. And she claimed that Corbyn had been unable to deal properly with the issue of Labour antisemitism because he had been so emotionally affected by being accused of it himself. Cue derision and jeers. Which was only to be expected. After…

Britain

Jeremy Corbyn is not the cause of left-wing Jew hate, he’s the result

October 21, 2018October 21, 2018 MelanieAcademy of Ideas, antisemitism, Corbyn, Labour

The Academy of Ideas, a vigorous generator of debate, conferences and discussions, originated in a group of revolutionary communists. Some years ago, they turned on a dime and became libertarians fiercely critical of the left (don’t ask). The Academy is one of the most refreshingly open-minded forums for discussing contemporary trends that at present exists. Last Sunday, I took part in a panel discussion on antisemitism at its annual Battle of Ideas talk-fest in London. The audience was largely sympathetic to concerns about the resurgence of antisemitism in Britain and…

Britain

Labour antisemitism: the skies are darkening even more

July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, British Jews, conspiracy theory, Labour

British Jews can be forgiven for feeling punch-drunk. Almost every day, it seems, brings yet another hallucinatory example of darkening antisemitism in the Labour party. Item. Damien Enticott, a Labour local councillor, was suspended by the party after grossly antisemitic posts were found on his Facebook account. These included an image claiming that as part of a “Jewish ritual they drink blood” with the comment: “This is done only by Talmud Jews. Talmud Jews are parasites! They also believe any child over 3 years old that isn’t a Jew should…

Britain

Livingstone departure: Labour’s cynical totem

May 22, 2018May 22, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Labour, Livingstone

Ken Livingstone has now resigned from the Labour party. So what? His departure will not lance the boil of Labour party antisemitism. First, Livingstone has still not resiled from his claim that Hitler supported Zionism, nor has he admitted to antisemitism; even today he has doubled down on his position. He used the standard excuse that he was resigning simply because he had become a “distraction” to Labour’s opposition to the government. He was “truly sorry” only for the “offence and upset in the Jewish community” which he had caused…

Israel

Waking up to this whole antisemitism thing

April 5, 2018April 8, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Corbyn, Labour, left

More than two weeks into the great row in Britain over Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism, and one thing becomes steadily more clear: Everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room. The revelations of widespread antisemitism in the party have plunged it into an existential crisis. Moderate Labour members opposed to Corbyn —hard-left friend to Hamas and all left-wing revolutionary causes — are aghast. Yet few grasp the real nature of this crisis, which extends far beyond the British Labour Party. And that’s because few on the left…

Britain

Giddy at their boldness – but Corbyn didn’t cause Labour antisemitism. He’s its product

March 30, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Corbyn, jews, Labour

Giddy from having put its collective head above the parapet for the first time ever, Britain’s Jewish community leadership is telling itself that it has managed to change the political weather. Earlier this week, the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council published a blistering attack on Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn for facilitating antisemitism in his party. A demonstration they called outside Parliament, which brought around 2,000 mainly Jewish people onto the streets, produced the extraordinary sight of dozens of Labour MPs turning up to express solidarity against their…

Britain

Open and shut case

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Corbyn, jews, Labour

An open letter backed by more than 2,000 supporters of Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that the Jewish community’s protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party was the work of a “very powerful special interest group”, the Independent reports. Some 2000 people turned up at Monday’s demonstration. There are around 65 million people in the UK. The Jewish community numbers about 270,000. There are an estimated 2.8 million British Muslims. The letter says the organisers of the demonstration had mobilised its “immense strength” to “employ the full might of the BBC” in order…

Britain

Mouse roars. Look what happened

March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 Melanieantisemitism, Corbyn, Israel, Labour

The Jewish mouse finally roared – and just look what happened. For the first time in its history the congenitally nervous Board of Deputies of British Jews, along with the Jewish Leadership Council, publicly denounced the leader of a mainstream political party over his support for antisemitism. They published a blistering letter yesterday denouncing the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for facilitating antisemitism in his party. Then they organised a demonstration outside Parliament. This was supported by dozens of Labour MPs along with other parliamentarians. These joined the Jewish community in…