How did it come to this? Here we are, in 2018, in modern, democratic, fair-minded Britain, and what happens when it turns out the leader of the Labour Party was a member of a secret Facebook group awash with anti-Semitic comments? Not a lot really.
As the political editor of the Jewish Chronicle, I have been writing about Jeremy Corbyn’s associations with anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and radical clerics since long before he became leader of the opposition. I have also lost count of the number of stories I have written on Labour MPs, councillors, activists and supporters linked to Jew-hate since the summer of 2015.
When I saw the work of David Collier – an unassuming, quiet, personable researcher – on Wednesday morning, I have to admit, even I reacted with a shrug. His exposé of hundreds of offensive and anti-Semitic posts from the Palestine Live Facebook group uncovered the sort of material I have seen countless times before from such collectives – how the Rothschilds ‘invented the Holocaust hoax’, Mossad carried out the 9/11 attacks, and an article titled ‘why the Jews are the unrepentant destroyers of all that’s decent on the planet’.
Except this time there is one key added feature – not just the presence, but the active participation, of Mr Corbyn.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in