Corbyn assures Jewish Labour Movement of new hearing into Livingstone case

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) has received a personal assurance from the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, that there will be a new hearing into the conduct of the former London mayor, Ken Livingstone.

The chair of JLM, Jeremy Newmark, revealed that the organisation had submitted a new complaint about Mr Livingstone, who is currently suspended from the party after remarks linking the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, with Zionism.

The new complaint is understood to focus on Mr Livingstone’s behaviour after his suspension earlier this year, his failure to show any remorse and the repetition of his comments.

At a panel discussion chaired by Mr Newmark, the Ilford North MP Wes Streeting, who had appeared on BBC Newsnight with Mr Livingstone after his suspension, disclosed that Mr Livingstone had admitted to him before the broadcast, that he had expected to be expelled, rather than suspended.

Mr Newmark said that JLM would be re-submitting a bid for a change in the rules relating to who could remain a member of the Labour Party.

The JLM motion, which failed at last year’s party conference, aims to make it easier to expel party members who are found guilty of anti-Semitic abuse, and calls for a lifetime ban — so that such people cannot return to Labour’s ranks.

During a Question Time session with MPs Wes Streeting, Stella Creasy and Catherine West, Ms West made a surprise suggestion that “it would be good for Jeremy Corbyn to make a trip to Israel.”

All three MPs spoke candidly about the “Corbyn factor” and how it had impacted on the Jewish community’s willingness to return Labour candidates.

Stella Creasy noted that there were “60 seats where there is only a three per cent difference between Labour and the Conservatives”, and both she and Catherine West felt that the seats in Barnet which remained Conservative could have gone to Labour if not for the convulsions over anti-Semitism of the last two years.

The conference was opened by Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger with Jasmin Beckett, Young Labour’s representative on the party’s National Executive Committee, together with the JLM’S Jeremy Newmark and Andrew Gilbert.

Ella Rose, the JLM director, paid tribute to all those who had volunteered to ensure the conference took place.