By Marion Roberts

Many readers of this article must be experiencing the same feelings of despair as I do about the current state of the Labour Party.

I have been a Party member for over thirty years. In that time, I’ve had two periods of intense political activity, once before and after the general election of 1997 when I was Chair of North Southwark and Bermondsey CLP and the second during the period of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, when I was elected as Vice-Chair of Camberwell & Peckham CLP.

In common with many Jews, I had a secular upbringing because my mother had married ‘out’. Joining Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) in 2017 and becoming a member of its Executive Committee has been an eye-opening education. That education has included coming to a greater understanding of the appalling behaviour of the Israeli government towards Palestinians, which amounts to apartheid in the West Bank.

Nearer home, the demonisation of my friend and relative Jeremy Corbyn is utterly unforgivable. The JVL website has many articles providing evidence of what we all know, that he definitively is not an antisemite, did not lead a party that was overrun with antisemitism and has nothing to apologise for.

The latest move to prevent him from standing as a Labour MP, on the spurious grounds that somehow he and he alone was responsible for the general election result of 2019 is shocking, shameful and deceitful. Deceitful because Labour under Corbyn’s leadership won more votes than in the general elections of 2005, 2010 and 2015. By this logic, Ed Miliband should no longer be a Labour MP. Shameful because of the endlessly repeated false claims made about Labour’s antisemitism ‘crisis’.

The failure of comrades on the left and right of the Party and in the unions to counter the narrative pedalled by the mainstream media about Labour and antisemitism continues to be depressing. Many activists have been damaged by the authoritarian actions of the ‘New Labour’ faction in the Party and its disdain for the membership. I was suspended for six months for chairing a meeting which passed a motion protesting the withdrawal of the whip from Jeremy.

The principles of natural justice and the right to have open debate have been denied for ordinary Party members. Many outstanding activists who have given years of their life to support the Party, seeking to pursue progressive social, economic and environmental policies, are now excluded by the actions of an unelected bureaucracy. Many Labour MPs and some leading trade unionists have colluded in what can only be described as a factional grab for power.

Martin Forde KC recognised this state of affairs. His acknowledgement that antisemitism has been weaponised in the course of factional activity comes as breath of fresh air. The more cynical amongst us will not feel surprised that the Party bureaucracy has submerged discussion of his Report’s findings, nor have they given it any publicity, even internally. It is to his credit that Forde is now speaking out.

Some of Forde’s recommendations are about Labour Party culture. He makes the case for pluralist, respectful discussion and debate. This aspiration cannot be achieved overnight because it will need a sea-change in processes and attitudes. 

The National Constitutional Committee can offer some help because, set up as it was to be independent of the National Executive Committee, it represents a past attempt to ensure fairness in disciplinary processes. Its function in hearing appeals should be restored and acted on. The Party needs members representing the diversity of Jewish opinion.

It is for this reason that I am standing for the NCC. I would urge Party members to vote to nominate me and the three others on our slate, Dave Levy, Jabran Hussain and Harry Stratton.

Image: Jeremy Corbyn MP. Author: Sophie Brown, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.