60,000 sign petition to reinstate suspended Jeremy Corbyn, backed by JVL
Jewish Voice for Labour has yet to comment on the EHRC report, to which it submitted evidence, turning its attention to supporting the former leader of the party
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Jewish Voice for Labour, which submitted evidence to the EHRC inquiry, has made no comment on the report’s findings, but instead has turned its attention to Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour Party and is organising a petition to get him immediately reinstated.
In a tweet, JVL say they are “appalled” at Mr Corbyn’s suspension and the removal of the Labour whip. They declare that he “has a proud record of fighting all forms of racism and antisemitism. This is an attack both on Jeremy and on the majority of party members. Do not leave, organise, fight back”.
So far 50,000 names have signed up to the petition, which describes the decision to suspend the former Labour leader as “an injustice”. His comments in response to the EHRC report, JVL say, “are a political statement a few sentences long. They are not a valid cause for suspension from the Labour Party”.
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They add: “Worse, this suspension appears to be a pretext to purge Corbyn and the left, and delegitimise left wing politics more broadly”.
Jeremy Corbyn himself says he will “strongly contest the political intervention to suspend me. I’ve made absolutely clear that those who deny there has been an antisemitism problem in the Labour Party are wrong”.
Digging his heels in over his remarks, he continues: “It’s also undeniable that a false impression has been created of the number of members accused of antisemitism, as polling shows: that is what has been overstated, not the seriousness of the problem.
“I will continue to support a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of racism. And I urge all members to stay calm and focused — while this problem is resolved amicably, as I believe it will be — to defeat this awful government, which is further impoverishing the poorest in our society”.
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