Theresa May: No place in Labour for those who want to tackle anti-Semitism

Theresa May has said there is no place in the Labour Party for those who want to tackle anti-Semitism.

The Prime Minister listed Haringey, Brighton and Cornwall council leaders, all Labour, who she said had been forced out after they had “supported.. tackling anti-Semitism in the Labour Party”.

“So the message is clear – if you believe in good local services, if you want to see more homes built, and if you want to tackle anti-Semitism, there is no place for you in the Labour Party”, the prime minister said.

This comes after Jewish representatives called for an independent inquiry into anti-Semitism faced by Labour councillors in local parties this week.

Board of Deputies’ president Jonathan Arkush said this would be one of the first items on the to-do list of Labour’s new general secretary – union leader Jennie Formby – after further revelations in The Sunday Times.

It follows this week’s criticism of Haringey Constituency Labour Party (CLP) by two Jewish councillors – Joe Goldberg and Natan Doron – who accused it of “institutional anti-Semitism,” ahead of them being deselected or retiring.

Doron said fellow Labour members accused Israel of being “a Nazi country” while Goldberg said he was accused by a fellow Labour councillor of “bagel-barrel politics”.

The latter told The Sunday Times: “It has become impossible to operate as a Jewish councillor in the Haringey party without having your views and actions prejudged or dismissed in terms that relate to your ethnicity.”

Likewise Phil Rosenberg, a Labour councillor who is also the Board’s director of public affairs, last month accused his local constituency party of “institutional racism” for “singling out Jews and Israel” in seven of the last nine meetings.

He said the Hampstead and Kilburn CLP  was “toxic” and “shameful” after voting to retract an award given to a pro-Israel group in the name of an anti-Israel activist.

Writing for Jewish News, Rosenberg described the “nauseating cacophony of jeers and heckling against anyone who dares question permitted groupthink,” adding: “The effect on most Jews will be a clear sign that this is no safe space for us.”