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Co-chair of Jewish Voice for Labour under investigation by Labour

Jenny Manson faces probe over comments on Newsnight in which she said antisemitism in Labour under Corbyn had been ‘exaggerated’

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The co-chair of  Jewish Voice For Labour, a group which consistently sought to downplay allegations of Jew-hate in Labour under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, is under investigation by the party for describing the scale of the antisemitism as "exaggerated".

The investigation into Jenny Manson relates to a BBC2 Newsnight appearance in November in which Ms Manson was asked about the decision taken by a Labour panel to readmit Mr Corbyn to the party.

The former leader had been suspended from Labour for claiming on Facebook that the scale of antisemitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

He made his comments after the Equality and Human Right Commission described a culture within the party which “at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it.”

In the Newsnight interview, Ms Manson said: "Many of us know that these claims have been exaggerated."

In a email seen by the JC, Ms Manson confirmed she has been issued a "notice of investigation" by Labour for comments made during the TV appearance last autumn.

She told the JC she was notified on the same day JVL made its own submission to the EHRC and to the Forde Enquiry accusing Labour of a "Purge of Jews" in its attempts under Kier Starmer to deal with antisemitism. 

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