The “ugly, disgusting” stain of anti-Semitism is defining the UK Labour Party and must be rooted out, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned.
In an interview with Israel Hayron, the former Labour Party leader outlined his fears for a party that has lurched to the hard-left of the political spectrum under current leader Jeremy Corbyn and embraced the anti-Semitism that has always defined leftist political organizations.
“This is a real problem, and we won’t deal with it until we acknowledge it,” Mr. Blair, said.
“I think that generally, anti-Semitism has risen in a really ugly and frankly disgusting way, and it has got to be rooted out completely. Now the leadership said they will do that, and I think they have to realize that they need to do it. Because if you let those types of sentiment get control or get any purchase or put roots down in a political party, it is very hard to uproot it.”
Mr. Corbyn has been criticised for ignoring complaints about his inability to confront the party’s anti-Semitism, and recently attended an event organised by Jewdas – a hard left Jewish group critical of more mainstream Jewish organisations.
Two demonstrations against the party have also taken place in the heart of London in the past month.
Both marches came in the wake of polling which shows that British Jews have been abandoning Labour since the election of Mr. Corbyn, and a recent survey revealed that four in five believe the party harbours anti-Semites in its ranks.
Ahead of the 2015 elections, only 13 percent of British Jews said they would vote for Labour under Mr. Corbyn.
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