Labour NEC candidate: Corbyn didn’t defend activists accused of antisemitism
Lynne Jones, aiming to become the party's Welsh rep on its ruling body, also shared claims Board and JLM are part of 'Israel lobby' who are 'serving British establishment'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
A former Labour MP standing to be the Welsh representative on the party’s ruling body claimed Jeremy Corbyn didn’t do enough to DEFEND those accused of antisemitism.
In 2020 Lynne Jones, the MP Birmingham Selly Oak between 1992 and 2010, wrote: “Unfortunately Jeremy Corbyn was one who didn’t defend fellow anti-racists and didn’t stand up to those accusing him of being antisemitic either.”
Now challenging former Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones for a position on Labour’s powerful national executive committee (NEC), Jones also shared claims that communal organisations such as the Board of Deputies (BoD) and the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) are linked to a wider “Israel lobby” who are “serving the purposes of the British establishment.”
In another social media post, the veteran left-winger supported calls for Holocaust Memorial Day to be renamed Genocide Memorial Day.
In further online observations, Jones also appeared to defend a series of former Labour figures caught up in the antisemitism row, including disgraced former MP Chris Williamson.
Jones is now being backed by MPs including Diane Abbott and Beth Winter, along with the Momentum and Welsh Labour Grassroots groups, in her campaign to be elected on to the NEC.
But her track-record on issues including Labour’s antisemitism crisis and Israel have been described as “alarming” by Jewish Labour activists contacting Jewish News. One Jewish member told Jewish News on Monday: “The prospect of someone like Lynne Jones ending up on Labour’s ruling NEC is terrifying.”
Commenting on claims of antisemitism in Liverpool Wavertree Labour party as Jewish former MP Luciana Berger quit, Jones previously wrote: “If they were antisemitic I doubt the CLP would have selected Luciana.”
When Jewish veteran MP Dame Margaret Hodge wrote in October 2019 that she could not rule out leaving Labour herself over the antisemitism crisis, Jones wrote: “Wish she would rule out staying.”
In November 2020, social media posts reveal how Jones responded to an online article encouraging Labour activists to defend Chris Williamson, the former Labour MP, who left the party in a bitter row over comments that Labour was “too apologetic” about antisemitism ahead of the 2019 general election.
While Jones offers no comment directly on Williamson himself, she writes: “Unfortunately Jeremy Corbyn was one who didn’t defend fellow anti-racists and didn’t stand up to those accusing him of being antisemitic either.”
Just one month later Jones claimed Corbyn was “intimidated” into accepting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, with full examples, writing in her December 2020 post that this was “still insufficient to quell #Israel lobby.” Addressing the new Labour leader, Jones wrote: “Keir Starmer is this enough to get me expelled from UK Labour?”
Jones also directed an online post to Jewish journalist and commentator Jonathan Freedland after he wrote of Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism. She criticised Freedland writing to him on social media stating: “The misdirected ‘battle’ you have been fighting has increased antisemitism and racism in all its forms.”
Jones, who once chaired the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs in Parliament, also attacked both the BoD and the JLM after linking both communal groups to moves to get film director Ken Loach expelled from Labour.
The 71 year-old then shared a quote from an article written by the blogger Jonathan Cook stating: “The fact that the BoD and the JLM have been able to exercise such clout against allegations for which there is no evidence indicates how enthusiastically the Israel lobby has been integrated … into serving the purposes of the British establishment.”
Back in 2018 newspaper reports had revealed how parliamentary records showed how Corbyn, along with former shadow chancellor John McDonnell had supported calls to rename Holocaust Memorial Day, in recognition of other genocides Jones, responding to an article by the Daily Mirror on the issue, wrote: “To be replaced by ‘Genocide Memorial Day’. What’s wrong with that?”
She added: “I grew up in the 50s horrified by the Nazi exterminations, but I’d never heard the term ‘Holocaust’ until a 70s US TV series.”
Last year, as more Labour activists were “auto-excluded” from the party for membership of proscribed groups such as Labour Against The Witchhunt, that repeatedly played down allegations of antisemitism in Labour, Jones wrote that “there is a witch-hunt to be against”. There is no suggestion that Jones was ever a member or had any other affiliation with Labour Against The Witchhunt.
Social media posts by Jones also confirm she has made regular financial donations to the Electronic Intifada news site, made infamous by associate editor Asa Winstanley’s regular claims that antisemitism allegations were “weaponised” by the right wing.
Winstanley quit the Labour party during disciplinary proceedings against him. Jones has urged her supporters to also donate to Electronic Intifada.
Jewish News approached Jones and the Labour Party for comment over her posts.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
