Corbyn Under Attack Over Anti-Semitism Row

Jeremy Corbyn has come under attack from his own shadow cabinet for failing to properly tackle allegations of anti-Semitism.

After Ken Livingstone was suspended from the Labour party for inflammatory remarks claiming Hitler was a "Zionist", shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said more needed to be done.

Mr Burnham said some people in the party, which has also suspended Bradford West MP Naz Shah this week, "have made anti-Semitic comments".

"These allegations, when they are surfacing, are not being dealt with properly and quickly enough," he said. "They need to be dealt with much more speedily in the future.

"If anti-Semitism is found, expulsion should follow, no ifs or buts."

However he insisted the party itself had "for decades promoted quality and fought discrimination". He added: "I would resign tomorrow if I thought I was in a party promoting anti-Semitism."

Mr Burnham's one-time leadership rival Yvette Cooper has called for an action plan for tackling discrimination which goes beyond suspending people.

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And shadow cabinet colleagues including Luciana Berger, Lucy Powell, Seema Malhotra and Chris Bryant have also called for tough action to root out anti-Semitism.

Mr Corbyn has insisted the problem was confined to a "very small number of people" in the party - however, other parliamentarians disagree.

Labour MP Wes Streeting, the vice chairman of the all-party parliamentary group against anti-Semitism, said it has to accept it has a problem in tackling such cases.

He also appeared to disagree with Mr Corbyn's assertion that Labour is not in crisis, telling Sky News: "I don't see how we can't say there isn't at least a serious problem.

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"I can tell you knocking on doors and talking to Jewish people and other decent-minded people in my constituency that this is hurting the Labour Party politically."

Corbyn ally and former Labour MP George Galloway said the controversy was an "entirely synthetic crisis" designed to destabilise the Labour leader.

He told Sky News: "They're trying to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn - that's the long and the short of it. There's a slow-motion coup, it's been underway for many months, the real target is Jeremy Corbyn."

The latest fallout began after Naz Shah was suspended for controversial social media posts about Israel she made before being elected last May.

That row deepened when Mr Livingstone attempted to defend the Bradford West MP during a radio interview, and his remarks led to allegations he was a "Nazi apologist" and defending anti-Semitic behaviour.

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The former London mayor has also been suspended for "bringing the party into disrepute", after he told BBC Radio London that Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism "before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews".

Mr Livingstone appeared unrepentant on Friday, telling Sky News: "How can the truth be an offence - if I had lied that would be offensive."

Otherwise, he declined to comment on the row and said he would be spending the day "taking Coco for a walk, then I'm coming back to do the washing, then I'm moving the newts and pond weed from my old to my new pond."

Mr Streeting described Mr Livingstone, a close ally of the Labour leader, as a "political arsonist pouring petrol over the flames".

The MP claimed that the 70-year-old "had form" when it came to anti-Semitism and alienating the Jewish community, adding: "In Ken Livingstone's case, I think he is beyond redemption and I wouldn't be sorry to see him go from the Labour Party permanently."

Speaking on LBC, UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed Labour was using anti-Israel sentiment "to get all the Muslim votes in this country".

He said: "What has happened, and I think what has happened in Bradford, is that left-wing support and sympathy for anti-Israel/anti-Israeli views has now become allied to a very big growth in the Muslim vote in this country.

"So, I'm worried that the left of the Labour Party have always had this view. They are now linking it in in a desperate attempt to get all the Muslim votes in this country and I think we are in a bad place."