Jewish Labour Movement chair Ivor Caplin has apologised “unreservedly” to Holocaust expert Dr Deborah Lipstadt after he launched an astonishing attack on her comments on Labour’s antisemitism crisis.
On Thursday, the JC reported how Mr Caplin suggested there are "too many people who are outside the Labour Party like an American academic who come over and say this", during an interview on LBC.
His remarks came after Dr Lipstadt used a Holocaust Educational Trust conference speech to blame Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour for a rise in what she said was “softcore” Holocaust denial.
One JLM official said of Mr Caplin's interview: "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It actually made me feel sick."
In a statement issued by JLM on Friday evening, Mr Caplin said he had the "highest regard" for Dr Lipstadt.
Statement from @ivorcaplin pic.twitter.com/1mVVKDaBfT
— JewishLabourMovement (@JewishLabour) July 6, 2018
He added: "I was trying to make the point (albeit clumsily) make the point about the importance of tackling antisemitism within the Labour Party.
"I have the highest regard for Professor Deborah Lipstadt and for the incredible work she has done over the years in challenging Holocaust denial and I apologise unreservedly to her."
He continued: "When someone of Professor Lipstadt's expertise and prominence speaks about the nature of antisemitism in the Labour Party, we should all listen and act."
Mr Caplin, a former defence minister in Tony Blair’s government, was confirmed as JLM chair in June.
A former Labour MP for Hove, in Sussex until 2005, Mr Caplin replaced former chair Jeremy Newmark after he resigned earlier this year.
