Luciana Berger: Corbyn must convene Shadow Cabinet to discuss 'sickening summer of antisemitism’

"They are not doing anything to stem a growing voice and movement that says I don't have a place in the party.

"I haven't changed. I'm the same person as when I was elected in 2010 and I'm still standing up for the same things I have always believed in...

"But many of us are being made to feel unwelcome in our own party.

"It is my party as much as anyone else's, but it's very clear - whether it's moderate Jewish MPs, activists or councillors - that we are the one's being made to feel there's no place in the party for us anymore.

"Now it's up to the leadership to decide, not just whether we should feel welcome, but do we have a place at all?"

 

Ms Berger, the JLM's parliamentary chair, said more senior figures on Labour's front bench should voice their anger.

She said: "It has to go wider than just (Deputy Leader) Tom Watson...

"I have had a large number of private messages of support, but these private messages need to become public statements of solidarity, particularly from Labour's front bench if our core values of equality and anti-racism are to mean anything.

"There was a call from my colleagues for the shadow cabinet to meet over the summer and address the issue but this was ignored.

"It is inconceivable... It should be the number one issue on (the shadow cabinet's) agenda.

"We need an urgent reassurance from the General Secretary, from the leader."

The Liverpool Wavertree MP’s comments come after her colleague Frank Field resigned the party whip over antisemitism.

Ms Berger, 37, said Mr Field’s local party’s refused to accept training sessions on combatting antisemitism from the JLM.

She said she “totally understood" why Mr Field was angry, noting one motion in his constituency Labour Party rejected the request for JLM training because "they said we were in receipt of funding from ISIS".

“That’s a total lie. And there’s been a relentless failure by the leadership to contend with antisemitism.

She also revealed that her own decision to speak out over the summer - including her recent criticism of Mr Corbyn's speech about 'British Zionists' needing a lesson in English irony and her condemnation of left-wing NEC member Peter Willsman's Jewish "Trump fanatics" comments - had now left her the victim of "a torrent of abuse that has become even more extreme."

She added: "I have never seen it so bad... At my office, there are calls being left on an hourly basis from people who ring up to be abusive. It is unacceptable for my staff to have to endure.”

"The worst cases of open antisemitism are reported to the police. But there's the abuse I get just because I choose to speak out on the issue."

She noted that, in the week her colleague Dame Margaret Hodge was investigated for confronting Mr Corbyn over antisemitism, there were two Labour councillors suspended over claims of Jew-hate.

"The party themselves confirmed that no less than 252 individuals were being investigated for antisemitic comments directed at Margaret - and that was just in one week," Ms Berger said.

The MP, who has continued to devote time to Labour campaigns on mental health, blasted claims that the antisemitism issue was being used by opponents of Mr Corbyn to smear him.

"I certainly didn't get into politics or seek to be elected to talk about antisemitism," she said.

"I'm a proud British Jew - but I didn't expect my political activities to be dominated by this issue. This ultimately is about poor leadership. 

"It is this poor leadership that is distracting us away from focusing on one of the most disasterous Tory administrations.

"We should be 20 points ahead in the polls. 

“We need to be a broad church in order to fully appeal to to the country. But look what has  happened over the summer."

Ms Berger added the Labour leader's past associations with Islamic extremists were and his repeated derogatory remarks in speeches made about Zionism before he became leader were ""completely inexcusable".

"Speaking up for the Palestinians is most certainly not antisemitism," she reasoned. “l am proud to speak up for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and for a two-state solution.

“But when support for the Palestinians trickles over into antisemitic tropes or stereotypes, or when whole communities are demonised - these are very serious matters for someone who is not only leader of our party, but who seeks to be leader of our country.

"Some of Jeremy's past associations are completely inexcusable.

"Now we have people who seem to want to denigrate the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks over comments he made this week about one of Jeremy's speeches about British Zionists rather than addressing his concerns."

She said of Mr Corbyn's response so far: "We haven't in effect heard much for him apart from one rehashed article and a short video message...

"If any of the offensive comments that have emerged were levelled at any other minority community they would be deemed totally unacceptable.

"Why then is it alright to treat the Jewish community in this way?"

She cited what she described as Mr Corbyn's "outriders" - such as Unite union chief Len McCluskey and the Derby North MP Chris Williamson - for the leader's failure to put out an effective message regarding tackling antisemitism.

One major concern was Mr Williamson's 'Democracy Live' tour which had recently travelled to Liverpool and had featured an open call for deselection of the city's MPs and allegations of antisemitism from activists who spoke at the meeting. 

"The idea that a (Labour MP) should be agitating in constituencies where there is a moderate MP is reprehensible and should be called out by the Labour leadership," she said.

"We should be focusing on attacking the Tories - so why is Chris Williamson not busy campaigning for a Labour government?"

At the Liverpool event, Mr Williamson did nothing when one member of the audience called Mr Corbyn's critics "Israeli foot soldiers", as the JC revealed. Ms Berger said this was "obviously antisemitic".

 

"These allegations, that I'm in the pay of Mossad or the Israeli government or that I'm a traitor to this country, they are coming from people on the far left," she said.

"It's disgusting and to be said in the presence of a member of the PLP who doesn't challenge it is unacceptable. A complaint has been made by the JLM to the general secretary about that meeting."

Ms Berger - who also called for the Labour leadership to support the People's Vote campaign calling for second referendum on Brexit - is preparing for a crucial week ahead in the fight to change the party.

On Sunday, she will speak at the JLM's annual conference alongside Dame Margaret Hodge

Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum and architect of Mr Corbyn's rise to power, has also agreed to take part in debates at the event but is likely to receive a hostile reception from most of the JLM's members.

Ms Berger noted Mr Lansman was at the same meeting where Pete Willsman, a Corbyn ally and member of the party's governing body, went on a rant about Jewish "Trump fanatics" and accused a cross-section of rabbis of making false claims of antisemitism.

She said: "Mr Willsman should have been suspended and an investigation launched into his remarks - but instead he was let off with a slapped wrist."

On Tuesday, Labour's NEC meets to discuss the party's watered-down code of conduct on antisemitism, with Ms Berger at the forefront of calls for it to adopt the broader internationally recognised definition.

Ms Berger said the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition should be written into Labour's party staff and advisors.

"This definition has been adopted by the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland, as well as over 130 councils and by trade unions," she said.

"Only the Labour Party has attempted to amend it, despite having initially adopted it back in 2016.

Wednesday will see Labour MPs voting on adopting the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition into their own standing orders.

"But there can be no 'ifs' or no 'buts'. It must be adopted in full without any caveats," Ms Berger said.