Labour split deepens as Corbyn refuses to protect MPs targeted for deselection by hard-left
Labour split deepens as Corbyn refuses to protect MPs targeted for deselection by hard-left allies and his deputy Tom Watson SNUBS speech at party conference
- Jeremy Corbyn has told MPs that he will not protect them from deselection bids
- Hard-left activists have been making bids to oust a series of moderate MPs
- Labour leader said he found the accusations he is anti-Semitic ‘very hurtful’
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Labour’s divisions were deepening today after Jeremy Corbyn refused to protect moderate MPs targeted for deselection by his hard-left allies.
The Labour leader caused fresh anger by insisting he would not intervene to stop politicians being ousted from their constituencies by activists.
The row erupted after it emerged Rosie Duffield was the latest MP facing a revolt by local members in Canterbury over her support for pro-Israel groups.
The censure motion was finally withdrawn last night – but no confidence votes have been passed against Joan Ryan, chairman of Labour Friends of Israel, Gavin Shuker and Chris Leslie.
Meanwhile, it is understood that deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has snubbed delivering a speech from the podium at what promises to be a turbulent party conference.
The Labour leader (pictured last week on a trip to Leicester) was roundly condemned after MailOnline exclusively published a video in which he accused British Zionists of having ‘no sense of English irony’
Deputy leader Tom Watson (pictured left), who has had a long-running feud with Mr Corbyn and his allies, is said to have decided not to speak at Labour conference after being offered lower-grade slots. Gavin Shuker (pictured right) is among the MPs targeted for deselection
Mr Watson, who has had a long-running feud with Mr Corbyn and his allies, is said to have decided not to speak at Labour conference after being offered lower-grade slots.
At a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party last night, Mr Corbyn was berated over his handling of the anti-Semitism crisis and the backlash against centrists MPs.
But the veteran left-winger told the meeting: ‘I know what it feels like to be the target of a no confidence vote but it would be wrong for me to intervene in the democratic rights of any part of the Labour Party.’
He also enraged MPs by saying they should stop criticising him and focus their attacks on the Tory Government.
He said: ‘We will always have some differences of opinion and we must protect the right of criticism and debate but our first and overwhelming priority is to deliver for the people we represent and remove this Conservative government from office.
‘We must focus on that priority and turn our fire outwards.’
Speaking after the showdown, Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh denounced the leader, saying: ‘Rosie Duffield has been an MP for 18 months. She is a young woman who is facing a disciplinary meeting.
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Jeremy Corbyn’s seat would disappear and Boris Johnson faces… Labour MP Rosie Duffield faces a vote by activists to…
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‘It is incumbent on all of us who have been round a lot longer to make sure that that meeting is conducted in a proper and respectful way to both the members and to Rosie, and the idea that the leader of our party has no responsibility for that is completely wrong.
Mr Corbyn last night complained about his ‘pain’ at being branded a racist over the anti-Semitism scandal.
The Labour leader was roundly condemned after MailOnline exclusively published a video in which he accused British Zionists of having ‘no sense of English irony’.
Ex chief rabbi Lord Sacks accused Mr Corbyn of being an ‘anti-Semite’ and compared the remarks to Enoch Powell’s notorious ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
Speaking to Holyrood magazine, the Labour leader told how he was left feeling upset after coming in for the criticism.
He said: ‘I have found these accusations very painful because my whole life has been about opposing racism and I saw at first-hand in Jamaica the hurt inflicted by Powell’s words.’
Mr Corbyn added: ‘I was in Jamaica when Enoch Powell made his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
‘When the speech came through, there were a lot of people in Jamaica, quite rightly, very, very angry.
‘I was teaching in a school where we had facilities to listen to the speech and we read about it, and the reaction was enormous.’
Joan Ryan, a leading critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle the anti-Semitism crisis, (pictured after a local party meeting in north Londonlast week) lost the confidence motion by just two votes at a party meeting in Enfield, north London
Mr Corbyn recalled that some of children he had been teaching that day ‘wanted to make sure I got home alright because a lot of people were very angry, and they didn’t want me blamed’.
The Labour leader added: ‘They were right to be angry about Powell. Fighting racism, it’s been my life and now I represent, and have done for a very long time, a very multicultural mixed society and I’m very proud to represent it.’
Mr Corbyn has faced ferocious criticism from many of his own MPs and Jewish leaders for failing to get a grip on the anti-Semitism crisis.
And many of the Labour moderates who have dared to speak out to criticise him over the racism row have been hit by moves to deselect them by the hard-left.
The Labour leader was accused of being an anti-Semite after a video emerged of him in 2013 questioning the identity of British Zionists who had criticised Palestinian ambassador Manuel Hassassian.
Mr Corbyn said: ‘They clearly have two problems.
‘One is they don’t want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all of their lives, they don’t understand English irony either.’
The comments sparked a massive backlash.
Lord Sacks said: ‘The recently disclosed remarks by Jeremy Corbyn are the most offensive statement made by a senior British politician since Enoch Powell’s 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
‘It was divisive, hateful and like Powell’s speech it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien.’
What is the timeline of anti-Semitic scandals which have erupted under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership?
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) has been accused of failing to tackle the racism among his supporters
The anti-Semitism scandal has dogged Labour since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.
Here is a timeline of the controversies:
April 2016:
Labour MP Naz Shah is suspended for anti-Semitic posts – including one in which she appeared to endorse calls for Israelis to be deported to the US.
She apologised and was given a formal warning.
Ken Livingstone goes on the radio to defend Ms Shah – but sparks fresh controversy by claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.
He is suspended by Labour but refuses to apologise and has repeated the claim many times.
He eventually quits Labour two years later, saying his suspension has become a distraction.
June 2016:
A two-month inquiry by civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti finds that Labour is not overrun by anti-Semitism.
But the launch is overshadowed when Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth flees it in tears after being accused by Corbyn supporter Marc Wadsworth of colluding with the press.
Critics accuse the report of being a whitewash and Ms Chakrabarti is widely criticised for accepting a peerage from Jeremy Corbyn shortly afterwards.
October 2016:
The Home Affairs Select Committee says Labour is guilty of incompetence over its handling of anti-Semitism and of creating a safe space for people with ‘vile attitudes towards Jewish people’.
March 2018:
It is revealed that Jeremy Corbyn defended an artist who painted an anti-Semitic mural and said the offensive art should be removed.
He apologises saying he did not properly look at the picture before he made the post.
Jewish leaders take the unprecedented step of holding a demonstration outside Parliament protesting Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism.
Several Labour MPs address the crowds.
April 2018:
Marc Wadsworth is expelled from Labour after being accused of anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Labour Jewish MPs tell of the anti-Semitic abuse they have suffered in a powerful parliamentary debate – and round on their leader for failing to tackle it.
July 2018:
The Labour leadership sparks fresh anger by failing to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism
Peter Willsman, a strong ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is secretly taped ranting that Jewish ‘Trump fanatics’ invented the anti-Semitism storm engulfing Labour.
In an angry diatribe at a meeting of Labour’s ruling executive committee, he said he was ‘amazed’ there was evidence party members hated Jews.
He claimed ‘some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump – they are Trump fanatics’ before shouting: ‘So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all.’
August 2018:
Jeremy Corbyn issues a video insisting he is committed to tackling the racism – but it is panned by Jewish leaders.
Corbynistas mount a social media campaign to get deputy Labour leader Tom Watson to quit after he criticises the party’s handling of anti-Semitism.
The Daily Mail exclusively publishes photos of Jeremy Corbyn holding a wreath at a ceremony where a terrorist linked to the Munich massacre was honoured.
The Labour leader insists he was there to honour others killed – but faces fresh calls to quit over the scandal.
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