28 September 2017
Anti-Semitism And “Hate-Speak”: Labour’s Toxic Underbelly
Extremists overshadow Corbyn’s conference triumph.
By R.D. Shackleton
If there were any doubts amongst the faithful gathered in Brighton that Jeremy Corbyn is indeed the most messianic leader since James Keir Hardie, this was put to rest at this week’s Labour conference. It’s no longer a question of whether he will move into Number 10 according to the main opinion-editorial in today’s Guardian. The debate is how he will rank against previous giants of the Labour movement – men (and it’s all men the paper notes angrily) such as Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson or, more controversially, Tony Blair.
Having run out of accolades to heap on the sainted Corbyn, now is the time, it would seem, to speculate on the scale and triumph of his likely political legacy. Tempting fate? Not for the Left. In this week’s sea-side gathering, we have witnessed the neutralising of the few remaining Party naysayers and trouble-makers. And it has been a triumph for the Momentum thought police – all acting, I hasten to say, in the cause of fraternal unity and at the democratic request of grass roots members and party activists.
Any conceivably contentious topic was, therefore, air-brushed off the Conference agenda. No proper debate or vote, of course, on anything like Brexit. No speeches from any of those heretical centrists now consigned to the Party’s Siberia. And MP selection rules further tightened to cast out any but the pure in heart.
And yet, for all these efforts, even Momentum has been unable to mask the anger, the aggression and the downright intolerance which now characterise certain fringes of the Corbyn movement. The most egregious behaviour, it must be stressed, is denounced by the Party itself and confined only to small numbers of delegates. And yet it cannot be overlooked that, at a conference committed to the pursuit of social justice, there are signs that the ugly side of Labour intolerance is rising to the surface.
In particular anti-semitism. That’s a highly sensitive area for Labour since the publication of a inquiry carried out by Shami Chakrabarti, Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales, into allegations of anti-semitism in the Party. Whilst clearing the Labour movement of systemic anti-semitism, or other forms of racism, her report nevertheless concluded: “There is too much evidence (going back some years) of minority hateful or ignorant attitudes and behaviours festering within a sometimes bitter incivility of discourse. I have heard too many Jewish voices express concern that antisemitism has not been taken seriously enough in the Labour Party and broader left for some years.”
That report came out in June 2016. Yet, just over a year later, Corbyn himself is forced again to defend the party after Conference provided the backdrop for clearly anti-semitic comments. There were numerous incidents – including the call for the party’s Jewish wing to be excluded on the grounds that it backed the “apartheid” state of Israel.
How can it be that Labour is again embroiled in anti-semitism allegations so soon after the Chakrabarti report? The Corbyn machine has proved itself more than adroit in ruling the Conference agenda. One has to ask why it has failed to prevent the Party becoming yet again embroiled in this kind of controversy.
And then there were the personally vindictive comments about the Royal Family. Of course, the Labour Left will have a Republican hue. But comments by Emma Dent Coad, the recently elected Member for Kensington, went way beyond any anti-monarchist debate with her cheap mocking of the Queen’s marriage and her disparaging and factually inaccurate claims about Prince Harry’s military career. That her comments raised such hilarity at a fringe meeting says much about the prevailing culture amongst a minority of delegates.
It’s a fringe culture which appears to have normalised the vilification of any individual or institution that challenges the belief systems of the hard-left. In this culture, the word Tory does not mean the supporter of an opposition Party. From the T-shirt slogan “I’ve never kissed a Tory” to the chant of “Tory scum”, this word has become a term of contemptuous abuse.
If Labour is so determined to become the next Government, one has to wonder why fringe elements should feel free to express such visceral contempt for political views held by such large parts of the electorate? Could it be that the prevailing culture of what is, in many ways, a revolutionary movement is in some senses giving a licence to forms of “hate talk” and discrimination? The bile can be disguised within an argument supporting the Party’s position on Palestine, in the case of anti-Israeli sentiment, for example. Or the use of taxpayers’ money in relation to the Royal Family. Whatever the answer, its impossible to overlook the level of aggression which would be much more difficult to imagine within other mainstream political parties.
Corbyn needs to act decisively to purge the party of this toxic culture. Such instances of intolerance and “hate-talk” are by no means widespread. But without prompt action, they have the capacity to spread. If Corbyn has any chance of becoming the “great” leader The Guardian predicts, his main challenge must be to make his policies and party palatable to all those centrist votes. And that includes, of course, those who support the monarchy and the many disaffected Tories.
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