Half of Britons Think Labour Has a Serious Antisemitism Problem

More than half, 51 per cent, of Britons believe that the Labour Party has a serious antisemitism problem — up from more than one third (34 per cent) in July 2018.

The survey by ComRes for Jewish News also found that 48 per cent disagree with the statement that the party’s far-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has “absolute determination” to eradicate the hatred of Jews from Labour, while over half (55 per cent) believe that his failure to tackle antisemitism makes him unfit to be prime minister.

Over half (54 per cent) believe Corbyn’s failure to deal with the anti-Jewish racism undermines his claims of being anti-racist, while 56 per cent believe the party leader is unable or unwilling to stamp out antisemitism.

Last year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center ranked Mr Corbyn in fourth place on the list of the ten worst antisemitic incidents worldwide in 2018, with the list determining that the leftist “stands directly responsible” for “injecting the world’s oldest hatred into the mainstream of society.”

While a majority, 76 per cent, of those who voted Conservative in the 2017 General Election believe the Labour Party has a serious antisemitism problem, concerns about the party’s and its leader’s handling of racism is also evident amongst its own voters with nearly one-third (29 per cent) feeling the same.

The same proportion, 29 per cent, of Labour voters also agree that Mr Corbyn’s failure to deal with the racism makes him unfit to lead the next government, and 37 per cent of the party’s voters do not believe Labour is doing enough to tackle antisemitism within its own ranks.

The statistics come as the party is embroiled in another antisemitism scandal, after Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon was caught on tape calling “zionists” the “enemy of the Palestinian people” and “Zionism is the enemy of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people.”

Two weeks ago, the Jewish Labour Movement passed a motion of no confidence in Mr Corbyn over his handling of antisemitism.

In February, a ninth Labour MP quit the party over the “culture of antisemitism.” In his resignation letter published in local media Ian Austin wrote, “The hard truth is that the party is tougher on the people complaining about anti-Semitism than it is on the anti-Semites.”

Mr Corbyn conceded, in a private conversation leaked to The Times this week, that the party may have “mislaid, ignored or not used” evidence of antisemitism.