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Lansman: Corbyn's words after EHRC report were ‘not right’
But Momentum founder disagreed with former Labour leader’s suspension
November 12, 2020 16:18
But Momentum founder disagreed with former Labour leader’s suspension
November 12, 2020 16:18Momentum founder Jon Lansman has openly criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report into the handling of antisemitism complaints - but has insisted he disagrees “strongly” with the decision to suspend him.
Offering his thoughts on the former leader’s decision to issue a Facebook statement on the day the damning report was published in which he claimed the problem was exaggerated by political opponents, Mr Lansman said: “I wasn’t happy with the words that Jeremy used.
“He was clearly talking about the number of cases, and of course that is technically right. The public perceptions, which are created by media reporting, don’t match the numbers of cases.
“But to say that on the day of the EHRC report, when lots of people…
“I’ve had lots of antisemitic abuse. I am hurt by that. The hurt has not been exaggerated. The hurt is real. So I think Jeremy’s words were not right. I disagree with them.”
In an interview with the Labour List website, Mr Lansman was also clear about his belief that Mr Corbyn should not have been suspended for his actions.
Speaking in what will be his final week as a member of Labour ruling national executive committee (NEC), whose election results - in which he did not stand - were announced on Friday, he said: “I also disagree strongly with his suspension. I haven’t said that before because it wasn’t appropriate for an NEC member to say that, but I’ve effectively finished my term.”
The left-wing veteran, who led Rebecca Long-Bailey’s failed bid to take over as leader of the party, also insisted he was “not sure” that the process used to suspend Mr Corbyn last month “was right.”
Having stood down from his Momentum role to spend more time with family, and now living in Cornwall, Mr Lansman said there were people on the left he would no longer work with now.
He added: “Antisemitism for me was a wedge issue.”
Mr Lansman spoke of what he said was an “emotionally big thing” for him working with the Labour left to support the Corbyn project.
“I never expected to find antisemitism in the Labour Party and I did find it,” he said.
“I found it in appalling ways in the stuff that I saw in disciplinary cases. I’m frustrated at the level of denial that there is in the party.”
He said the level of denial over antisemitism amongst some in the party was a major source of frustration.
“A lot of the people who are in denial, if they saw this material, I think many of them would adjust their position – maybe not sufficiently in some cases, but there is no basis for saying it is lies or a smear,” said Mr Lansman.
He also rejected any blame for the botched decision to attempt to oust former deputy leader Tom Watson from his position at the 2019 Labour Conference.
“I don’t feel particularly comfortable with the scrapping of Tom Watson’s post,” he said. “The circumstances of the proposal were not as I understood them to be at the time. I withdrew the proposal the following morning, and that’s that.”
And despite disagreeing with Sir Keir Starmer on many issues he said: “I will work to elect Keir as Prime Minister at the next election as hard as I can.”
