Lord Falconer: There Are Probably Thousands Of Anti-Semites In The Labour Party
27 June 2019, 08:42 | Updated: 27 June 2019, 08:46
The man charged with overseeing Labour's complaints process told LBC there are probably thousands of anti-Semites in the Labour Party.
Labour MP Chris Williamson was allowed back into the party yesterday after being suspended for saying that they were being "too apologetic" about anti-Semitism.
Speaking to Iain Dale, Lord Falconer, the former Justice Secretary, said there were questions on whether Labour wanted to act over anti-Semitism reports.
He said: "There are real question marks over Labour's commitment to fight anti-Semitism and they are big question marks.
"Although I am absolutely sure the vast vast vast majority of members of the Labour Party are not anti-Semitic, there are probably thousands of anti-Semitics in the Labour Party.
"And we need to be absolutely dynamic and clear in our disciplinary process in saying we will not put up with it.
"Our problem is we've ended up sounding uncertain and unclear that we will not put up with anti-Semitism.
"Now there's another dangerous aspect to it in that it's become factional within the Labour Party. If you are a 'moderate' or to the right, you're in favour of fighting anti-Semitism. If you're far to the left, then you're not in favour of fighting anti-Semitism.
"That's a terrible place for the Labour Party to be. The Labour Party has got to be united in fighting anti-Semitism."
