The announcement of Jeremy Corbyn MP being suspended by the Labour Party today will be the news a lot of residents in the Jewish Community, residents of Bury and many others across the country have wanted for some time. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, politics became toxic. There is no place for antisemitism in our society and it needs to be called out wherever it rears it’s head.
I will never forget the morning after the 2019 general election count (Friday), Bury North and Bury South both returned Conservative MPs and there was a Conservative Majority government. A neighbour and Pilkington Park resident saw me arrive home and still in my suit from the election count. They ran towards me, still in their dressing gown, and gave me a hug. The joy of Jeremy Corbyn not being Prime Minister and leading this country was a huge relief for them and many others in the community, and the feeling of my neighbour and many others in Bury South was similar to that of many in the country.
We must not forget that Bury Labour activists, Councillors, and the former Member of Parliament for Bury North all campaigned to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister. Sir Kier Starmer himself had said on the Andrew Marr Show, 20th October 2019 “I’m 100 per cent behind Jeremy Corbyn”. Today, they should all take a hard look at themselves. Sir Kier Starmer remained loyally by Jeremy Corbyn’s side when the anti-Jewish racists were given free rein in the Labour Party. He now must take radical action to cut the cancer of antisemitism that he was complicit in allowing to fester in Labour for far too long.
The EHRC report found that under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party we’re responsible for three breaches of the Equlity Act, including political interference in antisemitism complaints, the failure to provide adequate training to those handling antisemitism complaints, and the harassment of individuals. The report concludes that the Labour Party had a role in ‘fuelling hatred for Jews’.
There are still a number of questions outstanding with Sir Keir and Michael Gove MP has today written to the Labour Leader. He said: “All of us should be concerned about what has happened in the Labour Party in recent years. And today’s EHRC report underlines that. There are still important questions for Keir Starmer and so I have written to him seeking answers.”
Cllr. Nicholas Jones
Leader, Bury Conservative Group