Jeremy corbyn

Saturday

Toby Young

It will take more than Labour’s ‘inquiry’ to deal with the left’s anti-Semitism problem

From our UK edition

Anyone concerned about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party should welcome the appointment of Shami Chakrabarti, the former head of Liberty, to lead an internal inquiry into the matter, but it’s a little late in the day to be addressing this issue. And will the inquiry’s terms of reference allow her to investigate the leader of the party? The Jewish Chronicle drew attention to Jeremy Corbyn’s links to a rogues gallery of “Holocaust deniers, terrorists and some outright anti-Semites” back in August of last year. Among other dubious acts, Corbyn donated money to an organisation run by Paul Eisen, a self-confessed Holocaust denier who boasts of links to the Labour leader dating back 15 years.

Tom Goodenough

Listen: Ken carries on digging after Labour’s anti-Semitism row

From our UK edition

Ken Livingstone's doggedness has kept him in politics for 40 years. Yet the same tenacity was also on display this morning in this refusal to say sorry and finally help his party out by burying this row. Instead of using his interview with Michael Crick on LBC today to bring an end to this week's anti-Semitism row, his time on the airwaves served instead to reinforce the deep issue at the heart of the Labour party. The former London mayor parroted the same lines which ran him into trouble earlier this week. He spoke about quoting history; he also told of wanting to return to his garden and his beloved newts. But where he could have just said sorry and apologised for bringing up Hitler, he found a new source of blame for this week's row.

James Forsyth

The battle for Labour’s soul

From our UK edition

Normally, when we talk about a party being in ‘crisis’ we are really referring to a policy dispute or a bad set of election results. But the crisis currently engulfing Labour is far more serious than that. It is about the party’s very soul, I argue in The Sun this morning. The events of this week have demonstrated that Labour has a serious, and growing, problem with anti-Semitism. One of the party’s newly elected MPs has been suspended for making anti-Semitic comments and the party’s former Mayor of London has been suspended from the party after a bizarre and distasteful attempt to link Hitler and Zionism. But Jeremy Corbyn has been reluctant to accept that there is a problem.

Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: When the right goes wrong | 30 April 2016

From our UK edition

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. Is crazy all the rage in today’s politics and are conservatives going a little bit mad? That’s the topic for this week’s Spectator cover piece in which Freddy Gray argues that in America and in Britain, the right is tearing itself apart. Whilst Brits might be busy pointing and laughing at Donald Trump, all over the world conservatism is having a nervous breakdown, says Freddy. And the EU referendum is starting to prove that British Conservatives can be as barmy as everyone else.

Friday

Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn’s botched bid to escape from camera crew

From our UK edition

If there’s one thing Jeremy Corbyn does not like, it’s being hassled by journalists. The Labour leader was filmed yesterday refusing to answer questions about Ken Livingstone’s remarks before he managed to give the camera crew the slip. He's also been filmed walking through Westminster keeping quiet whilst journalists try and persuade him to answer questions. And earlier this month, Corbyn did not take kindly to a reporter from LBC doorstepping him following the row over David Cameron's tax affairs. On all of those previous occasions, he's managed to make a quick exit. But his attempts to do the same earlier today were thwarted – by a locked door. The grouchy Labour leader tried to give a Sky News reporter short shrift, saying only ‘Goodbye’.

Steerpike

Corbyn’s disgraced aide gets behind Sadiq Khan’s campaign

From our UK edition

Throughout his London mayoral bid, Sadiq Khan has been at pains to distance himself from Jeremy Corbyn. Although Khan was one of the 35 MPs to help get Corbyn onto the ballot paper, he has since gone on to declare that if elected mayor, he will not be 'Corbyn's representative in London'. His comments have led his mayoral rival George Galloway to accuse Khan of 'stabbing Jeremy Corbyn in the back'. Happily, Corbyn's team still seem happy to support Khan's mayoral bid despite. With less than a week to polling day, Khan's official campaign Twitter account has shared a photo of their bustling phone bank in action: https://twitter.com/TeamKhan2016/status/725409506591670274 While the photos show Labour's Stephen Pound helping out, it's another volunteer that caught Mr S's eye.

Tom Goodenough

‘Labour at war’: Papers make miserable reading for Corbyn as Ken row rumbles on

From our UK edition

The Labour party knew that the row over Ken Livingstone's suspension was not going to disappear overnight. And this morning's papers show that this story will be bubbling along for some time. All of this comes at a dreadful time for Labour with just days to go until Britain goes to the polls. In particular, it will be interesting to see how these front pages could have an impact on London's mayoral race. Sadiq Khan has acted swiftly to distance himself from what happened. But with this very public row not likely to go anywhere any time soon, whether this undermining of Labour's credibility affects Khan remains to be seen. Here's what the papers had to say about yesterday's day to forget for Ken: The Daily Mail described the row as 'a civil war'.

Thursday

Douglas Murray

Labour’s anti-Semitism problem stems from its grassroots

From our UK edition

If I were the Conservative party I’d be getting worried: Labour’s implosion is happening too fast. At this rate they could fall apart and regroup in time to go into the next election with a respectable leader. Everybody knows the latest developments. Naz Shah MP was found to have said some anti-Semitic things on social media. After some bitter internal wrangling she was suspended from the party. Fellow MP Rupa Huq tried to come to her defence and compared anti-Semitism to any old mishap. And then Ken Livingstone smoothed it all over by talking about which of Hitler’s policies he thinks Zionists agree with.

Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Ken’s day to forget

From our UK edition

Ken Livingstone has been suspended by the Labour party after plonking himself firmly at the centre of the anti-Semitism row by once again stepping in to defend Naz Shah. The former London mayor said the Labour MP's remarks were 'over-the-top but they were not anti-Semitic'. During his interview with Vanessa Feltz, he added: 'Let's remember when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism and this was before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.' Next up for Ken was the Daily Politics show, in which he tried again to defend his remarks. Ken told Andrew Neil: 'I've seen nothing to suggest to me that she is anti-Semitic. In 47 years in the party, I have never heard anyone say anything anti-Semitic.

Tom Goodenough

Ken Livingstone suspended by Labour

From our UK edition

Ken Livingstone has been suspended by Labour after wading in to defend Naz Shah in the anti-Semitism row. Labour officials finally stepped in following comments made by Ken on the BBC earlier today in which he declared that saying the ‘Jews are rallying’ was not an anti-Semitic remark. A spokesman for Labour said: 'Ken Livingstone has been suspended by the Labour party, pending an investigation, for bringing the party into disrepute.' Instead of keeping a low profile following his blundering appearance on the Vanessa Feltz show, Ken spent the morning touring the studios, acting in the words of Labour MP Wes Streeting 'like a political arsonist'.

Rod Liddle

Labour’s halfwits have revealed their anti-Semitic side

From our UK edition

My guess is that the people who voted for Naz Shah at the last election think she did not go anywhere near far enough in her comments about transporting Jews. Ms Shah is, somehow, still the MP for Bradford West, a seat she yanked from under the feet of someone we had all assumed had the votes of anti-Semites in the constituency sewn up. This is problem number one, for Labour. The loathing of Israel, and concomitant anti-Semitism, among its core Muslim vote is implacable. But problem number two is that Labour’s white middle-class metro liberal halfwits, of which Jeremy Corbyn is undoubtedly a member, are also disposed towards anti-Semitism. They loathe Israel every bit as much as does Shah, as Ken Livingstone's comments this morning prove.

James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn must now confront Labour’s anti-Semitism problem

From our UK edition

What is being said by senior figures in the Labour party about anti-Semitism at the moment is as depressing as it is jaw dropping. On the Today programme this morning, the Labour MP Rupa Huq—who went to Cambridge University—tried to play down the whole Naz Shah issue. She argued that sharing these kind of vile posts on Facebook was no big deal and not much different from her mocking Boris on Twitter for getting stuck on a zip-wire. She said that Shah had been subject to ‘trial by Twitter’. If this was not bad enough, Ken Livingstone then went on BBC London to say that declaring that the ‘Jews are rallying’ is not anti-Semitic. If this was not offensive enough, he then argued that Hitler supported Zionism before he ‘went mad’.

Steerpike

Tommy Corbyn pays a visit to ‘Corbyn the musical’

From our UK edition

This week there have been two rival Corbyn dramas being played out across London. In Westminster, the Labour leader struggles to get a grip on the anti-Semitism crisis taking over his party, while over in Waterloo Corbyn faces a nuclear dilemma. While both seem fantastical, unfortunately only one is make believe. Corbyn the Musical: the Motorcycle Diaries — written by Rupert Myers and Bobby Friedman — imagines Corbyn facing a nuclear crisis, and also offers a take on what may have gone on when Corbyn and Diane Abbott are said to have gone on a motorcycle holiday in the 1970s. Despite much media interest, Corbyn is yet to attend the show. However, Mr S can disclose that one member of the Corbyn family has managed to see the funny side.

Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: When the right goes wrong

From our UK edition

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. Is crazy all the rage in today's politics and are conservatives going a little bit mad? That's the topic for this week's Spectator cover piece in which Freddy Gray argues that in America and in Britain, the right is tearing itself apart. Whilst Brits might be busy pointing and laughing at Donald Trump, all over the world conservatism is having a nervous breakdown, says Freddy. And the EU referendum is starting to prove that British Conservatives can be as barmy as everyone else. Freddy speaks to Lara Prendergast and is also joined on the podcast by Tom Slater, author of 'Unsafe Space', and deputy editor of Spiked.

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn’s reluctance to suspend Naz Shah was revealing

From our UK edition

Naz Shah has now been suspended by the Labour party over the anti-Semitic comments she made before she became an MP. The statement from the Labour party says that Shah has been suspended by ‘mutual agreement’ between her and Corbyn. This comes just after Buzzfeed alleged that Shah’s apology for her remarks had been toned down by the Labour party, with references to the problem of anti-Semitism on the left removed. Shah’s comments reveal just how alarmingly widespread anti-Semitic views now are. Jeremy Corbyn’s initial refusal to suspend her indicated that he was not prepared to take this problem as seriously as he should, This suspension by ‘mutual agreement’, which has been dragged out of the leader’s office, does not change that.

Steerpike

Labour accused of editing Naz Shah’s apology to remove references to anti-Semitism

From our UK edition

It's finally happened. Over 24 hours after news first broke of Naz Shah sharing anti-Semitic posts online, the Labour MP has been suspended. While Labour say this is by 'mutual agreement', the move comes after several apologies from Shah -- and quite a long silence from Corbyn. However, the use of the term 'mutual agreement' is of particular intrigue in light of revelations from Buzzfeed. The website reports that Shah had her personal apology diluted after her team sent it to party officials to be approved. In Shah's original draft, she is said to have written: 'I helped promote anti-Semitic tropes. This was totally wrong'. However, this along with another mention of anti-Semitism was reportedly dropped from the final version approved by Labour.

Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: The high horse comes out cantering

From our UK edition

PMQs kicked off with a big fuss about improvements to our world-beating education system. To academise or not to academise? Corbo wants to let good-or-outstanding schools be good-or-outstanding. Cameron says good-or-outstanding schools can become even more good-or-outstanding. Both leaders prefer to ignore Ofsted’s lower grades, ‘inadequate’, and ‘requires improvement’. Rightly so. No one else recognises these cold and impersonal classifications. The average citizen uses a system based on the sight of a uniformed teenager on the street. ‘Safe to ignore’, ‘pass with caution’, ‘armed and feral’ or ‘requires imprisonment’. Today’s exchanges were marked by moral panic and an outbreak of high-horse fever.

Lara Prendergast

Labour’s Lisa Nandy suggests that Naz Shah should be suspended from the party

From our UK edition

Labour's Lisa Nandy has just been on the Daily Politics, where she suggested that Naz Shah should be suspended from the party. When asked about Bradford West MP Naz Shah's comments about Israel,  Nandy told Jo Coburn that the Labour party should 'suspend anybody who makes anti-Semitic comments in line with our policy and investigate it'. She said: 'We have a policy that people who make anti-Semitic remarks are suspended and an investigation carried out...and the policy ought to be followed without any exception.' 'There has to be a suspension and an investigation when something like this occurs because it is so serious and it does have a knock-on effect outside of parliament. 'There is a real problem for the Labour Party if we don't look like we're taking this things seriously...

Friday

Steerpike

Julian Fellowes on ‘class hatred’ and Corbyn’s Labour

From our UK edition

Although Julian Fellowes recently promised to take a backseat in the EU debate after growing tired of celebrities telling people what to do, he is still able to grace us with his thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn's Labour. In an interview with BA High Life, the Conservative peer -- and Downton Abbey writer -- discusses the current state of the Labour party. The Conservative peer says he is upset by the 'real seething jealousy' at the heart of politics today: 'It strikes me that as long as people are reasonably responsible in trying to do their best in terms of their own lives, there’s no reason for this permanent encouragement to class hatred.’ As for Corbyn on a personal level? Fellowes says that the Labour leader makes him feel nostalgic for his youth...

Thursday

Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn suggests the Queen is a secret Gooner

From our UK edition

Although Jeremy Corbyn's aides refused to confirm whether he would give a tribute to the Queen on her 90th birthday, the Labour leader did manage to put his republican tendencies to one side today in order to mark the happy occasion. After wishing Her Majesty a happy birthday, he went on to give his football team Arsenal a plug. Corbyn said that many locals believe that Her Majesty is actually a secret Gooner -- pointing to the fact that the Queen’s coronation drive went through Islington, key Arsenal territory 'Now we know the Queen is absolutely above politics. She may be above football too. But many locals harbour this quiet secret view that she actually, privately, is a Gooner.' Perhaps there is hope for relations between Corbyn and the Queen after all.