Yahoo News Jewish newspaper urges all non-Jews not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn
Labour’s General Election campaign has been dealt a serious blow after a leading jewish newspaper urged voters not to back Jeremy Corbyn.
Under a leader that was addressed to “all our fellow British citizens”, the Jewish Chronicle said that people should not back Mr Corbyn because of his handling of anti-Semitism within the Labour party.
The paper said the "near total inaction of Mr Corbyn and the rest of the Labour leadership in dealing with anti-Semites in the party has both emboldened them and encouraged others" - accusing Mr Corbyn and his allies of having "actively impeded action against the racists”.
Here's our front page this week - addressed not to our usual readers but to our fellow British citizens pic.twitter.com/7K5qi8GhBJ
— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) November 7, 2019
It added: ”If this man is chosen as our next prime minister, the message will be stark: that our dismay that he could ever be elevated to a prominent role in British politics, and our fears of where that will lead, are irrelevant.
“We will have to conclude that those fears and dismay count for nothing.
“But we think you do care. We believe that the overwhelming majority of British people abhor racism. We ask only that, when you cast your vote, you act on that.”
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During a Labour campaign event today there were reportedly boos from within the crowd of Labour supporters when the Jewish Chronicle was mentioned.
The newspaper’s comment came on the day that former Labour MP Ian Austin urged voters to back Boris Johnson in the election as Mr Corbyn was “not fit to lead”.
Mr Austin, who is not contesting the Dudley North seat he has held since 2005, told the Express & Star newspaper: "I must do everything I can to stop Jeremy Corbyn from getting into power.”
The long-time critic of Mr Corbyn and a former adviser to Gordon Brown quit Labour in February in response to what he claimed was a "culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance”.
Big negative reaction from audience of Labour campaign event at the mention of the Jewish Chronicle.
— Tom Harwood (@tomhfh) November 7, 2019
He said "decent patriotic Labour voters" should vote Tory to help Mr Johnson get the majority he needs to stop Mr Corbyn from entering Number 10, adding that the opposition leader was "too big a risk”.
His intervention came just hours after Labour deputy leader Tom Watson - who has also been publicly critical of the leadership's attempts to tackle anti-Semitism in the party - announced he is standing down, saying the time was right for him to step away from politics.
