Your Anger at Corbyn’s Suspension Makes You a Part of the Problem.

Last week, the EHRC published their report into the handling of antisemitism in the Labour Party. It was found that there was interference in the complaints process and that it was part of a wider practice by the hierarchy of the party when dealing with complaints that were seen as ‘politically sensitive’. Between March 2016 and May 2019, there were only 23 times out of 70 when there was political interference, from staff within the leaders' office, into reviewed complaint files. This was and continues to be, real neglect of duty by the Labour Party in an attempt to protect their members. It was wrong and should never have happened.

This was not the story of the week regarding the Labour Party.

Instead of focusing on the real issue, the clear antisemitism within the Labour Party, the report is playing second fiddle to the news that Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the party. His suspension is a result of his comments regarding the report, calling it “over-exaggerated” and “vastly overstated”. Despite what your thoughts about him are, Corbyn is not an uneducated or unintelligent man. He was fully aware that the media attention swarming this report would eventually land on him, and he sought to “steal the show” as it were. When a report such as this is published, you cannot undermine it and claim it to be an act of political sabotage, and not face any repercussions. He knew he would be suspended for his comments and in so doing, ignited a ‘civil war’ within the Labour Party. That is the current portrayal of events.

In reality, it is a handful of disgruntled Corbynites who’re still not over the result of the 2019 election and who still believe Corbyn was the best thing to happen, or not happen, to this country.

The fact that there was the hashtag ‘#IstandwithJeremyCorbyn’ trending on Twitter, and not something more relevant, like “we apologise for our gross negligence and will do everything we can to root and remove our anti- semitism” shows that more are upset and frustrated over Corbyn being suspended than they are about the genuine contents of the EHRC report. Of course, it is entirely possible to be affected by both, but you should be acknowledging that the report is far more important than Corbyn’s suspension, because that is not what truly matters.

This was always going to be a hard day for the Labour Party, but Corbyn’s dismissive remarks have only made the situation worse. It is clear now that the Labour Party must develop a coherent strategy to target anti-semitism, and must rebuild trust amongst the Jewish communities. Undoubtedly, the Labour Party would benefit largely from removing the petty comments coming from certain areas of the party.