Livingstone: Labour antisemitism row based on lies and smears
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Livingstone: Labour antisemitism row based on lies and smears

Former London mayor tells Corbynistas that smears are being promoted by 'ghastly old Blairites'

Joe Millis is a journalist

Ken Livingstone at Church House, Westminster, London, for his disciplinary hearing where he faced a charge of engaging in conduct that was grossly detrimental to the party following his controversial comments about Adolf Hitler.
Ken Livingstone at Church House, Westminster, London, for his disciplinary hearing where he faced a charge of engaging in conduct that was grossly detrimental to the party following his controversial comments about Adolf Hitler.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has re-ignited Labour’s Jewhate row by dismissing the issue as “lies and smears” pushed by “ghastly old Blairites”.

He told a meeting of the pro-Corbyn Labour against the Witchhunt, that he had been victimised by “the elite”, who were trying to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Livingstone said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s office did not want it to happen. It was about distracting… this is endemic if you have a genuine socialist leader who is going to transform things for ordinary people and make the bloody corporations pay their fair share of tax – they will do whatever is necessary to stop you.

“And that means lies and smears in most of the West. In other parts of the world it can mean assassination.

“I mean it was outrageous because it was still – and this was Jeremy’s big problem – a Labour machine controlled by all the ghastly old Blairites, convinced Jeremy was going to lead us to a wipe out, doing everything possible to get rid of him, and that’s what has fuelled all this stuff about anti-Semitism.”

He claimed that “the elite will do everything to stop Jeremy getting into Government, because they look at [Shadow Chancellor] John McDonnell and think that bugger’s going to stop all our tax dodging in the Cayman Islands.”

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

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.

read more: