Gordon Brown: Labour must 'eliminate' antisemitism
He says those guilty of antisemitism should be automatically expelled, with an appeals process separate from the Labour hierarchy.
Monday 8 July 2019 09:43, UK
Former prime minister Gordon Brown is piling pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to "eliminate" antisemitism from the Labour Party.
He says it is a fight for the "moral soul" of Labour and that those found guilty of antisemitism or racism should be automatically kicked out.
"To fail to act against the abuses we have witnessed runs counter to the very principles of the Labour Party we joined," Mr Brown is expected to say during a speech on Sunday.
It comes amid anger at Labour's decision to readmit left-wing MP Chris Williamson, who had been suspended in an antisemitism after saying Labour had been "too apologetic" on the issue.
He was re-suspended last week after a furious backlash, led by deputy leader Tom Watson. Labour is already being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mr Brown will tell the Isaiah Berlin lecture in north London: "We cannot go on ignoring the consequences of the upsurge in hate and hate speech, all too often in the form of sinister, anonymous and untraceable internet trolling.
"Opposing antisemitism and every manifestation of racism goes to the heart of who we are and what we stand for as Labour.
"It's about the moral soul of a party, whose most basic goal is a commitment to equality for all - not just for some who suffer oppression - but everyone.
"To fail to act against the abuses we have witnessed runs counter to the very principles of the Labour Party we joined."
The former PM will say there should be automatic expulsion - not just suspension - where there is irrefutable evidence of antisemitism or racism.
A person kicked out of the party would have the right to appeal but under a system separate from the Labour hierarchy and set up in conjunction with the Jewish community and others.
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Mr Brown will also urge the party to promise that a Labour government would appoint a minister to be in charge of fighting antisemitism.
"The Labour Party owes the Jewish community an unqualified apology. But that is only a starting point in rebuilding trust," he is expected to say.
"We have to call out antisemitism for what it is: racism, and, in this case, anti-Jewish racism."
The controversy surrounding Labour shows no sign of dampening down after the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews accused Labour of giving the Jewish community a "big V sign".
Marie van der Zyl made the comment after Labour's new head of membership, Jules Rutherford, retweeted a post that referred to antisemitism "smears" being used as a "political weapon against Jeremy Corbyn".
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A Labour spokesman stressed that Mr Corbyn had apologised for the hurt caused to the Jewish community by the party's antisemitism row.
"Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and implacably opposed to antisemitism in any form," said the spokesman.
"There has been a deeply worrying rise in antisemitism in the UK and across Europe.
"We have strengthened our procedures and increased the rate at which antisemitism cases have been dealt with four-fold.
"As recently released data showed, antisemitism complaints received over a period of 10 months related to about 0.1% of our membership, but one antisemite is one too many. We are determined to tackle antisemitism and root it out of our party."