May and Corbyn Clash Over Anti-Racism Records
Mrs May said it was
a "disgrace" Mr Corbyn had "dodged his responsibility" for
tackling anti-Jewish prejudice.
The Labour leader
insisted he was "dealing" with the issue.
And he said the PM
should reflect on the impact of her own "hostile" immigration
policies and her party's problems with Islamophobia.
Earlier on
Wednesday, more than 60 Labour peers put their names to an advert in the
Guardian accusing Jeremy Corbyn of failing to tackle anti-Semitism.
The signatories, who
make up about a third of Labour members in the Lords, said the leader was
presiding over a "toxic culture".
Brandishing a copy
of the advert at Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May said he could not
"parade himself as the champion of the people and the defender of equality
and fairness" until he apologised for his failure to get to grips with the
problem of anti-Semitism.
"The person who
has been dodging his responsibility is the right honourable gentleman,"
she said. "The real disgrace is his handling of anti-Semitism in the
Labour Party."
In response, Mr
Corbyn said he would "deal with any racism" in his party and
"looked forward" to Mrs May doing the same with allegations of
Islamophobia in the Tories.
"This party
totally opposes racism in any form whatsoever. Anti-Semitism has no place in
our society or any of our parties and no place in any of our dialogue," he
said.
Although it was a bit
of a cheek for Theresa May to lean over the despatch box and demand her
opponent apologise, it does point to the fact that the anti-Semitism crisis in
Labour has become a Jeremy Corbyn crisis.
This morning some
Labour MPs were saying they wanted Mr Corbyn to go in front of a Jewish
audience and apologise for his personal failure to tackle anti-Semitism.
The response of Team
Corbyn has so far been to denounce such people as political malcontents seeking
to damage his leadership.
But interestingly John
McDonnell, a key ally of Mr Corbyn, said maybe the party ought to listen to
some of the views of these critical peers and incorporate them into future
recommendations.
You begin to wonder if
the pressure is now becoming so intense that merely circling the wagons and
denouncing critics as traitors is no longer sufficient.
He said Mrs May should
reflect on the impact of her immigration policies when she was home secretary
and the failings in the treatment of the families of Windrush settlers.
"Coming from a
prime minister who encouraged the hostile environment, sent 'go home' vans
around London and deported British citizens, I think she might look to her own
party's and government's records as well."
Labour has been
engulfed in a long-running dispute over anti-Semitism, which has seen nine MPs
and three peers leave the party.
Last
week, the BBC's Panorama revealed claims from a number
of former party officials that some of Mr Corbyn's closest allies tried to
interfere in disciplinary processes involving allegations of anti-Semitism.
As
well as calls for an investigation into the claims
made in
the programme, the Labour leadership is also under pressure to adopt an
independent complaints process.
In the Guardian on
Wednesday, the peers said Mr Corbyn had failed to accept responsibility for
"allowing anti-Semitism to grow in our party".
"The Labour
Party welcomes everyone irrespective of race, creed, age, gender identity, or
sexual orientation. Except, it seems, Jews," the advert said.
"This is your
legacy Mr Corbyn," it added. "Labour is no longer a safe place for
all members and supporters," it said.
About a dozen of the
signatories are former ministers who served in the last Labour government -
including Peter Mandelson, Beverley Hughes and John Reid.
Those who signed
make up about a third of the Labour members of the House of Lords.
Shadow Chancellor
John McDonnell hit back, saying the letter was "completely
inaccurate".
He said some people
wanted to use the issue as a "political weapon" - but he was focussed
on sorting the issue.
When the Panorama
documentary aired, a Labour spokesman said the former employees who had talked
to the BBC were "disaffected", and included some officials "who
have always opposed Jeremy Corbyn's leadership".
But more than 200
current and former staff wrote to Mr Corbyn to say the party had treated
whistleblowers in an "appalling and hypocritical" way, and that the
"moral responsibility" for the anti-Semitism crisis lay with the
party's leader.
Labour has never
confirmed the number of anti-Semitism cases it is investigating and the scale
of the issue among its supporters has become a source of political dispute
itself.
Meanwhile, there
have been calls for the Conservatives to commission an independent inquiry into
claims of Islamophobia by its members.
Earlier
in the leadership contest, Home Secretary Sajid Javid
pressed his rivals to sign up for one during a head-to-head debate.
Tory chairman
Brandon Lewis has also refused to say how many complaints the party has
received about Islamophobia, but he has insisted the numbers were "very,
very small".
FROM .bbc.com/news/uk-politics
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