Labour members must pick a side in the fight against anti-Semitism

Snap. It was a long time coming but it was always coming. Jeremy Corbyn, who has traded on an image of saintly anti-racism for his entire career, was finally confronted by someone who sees through it.

Yesterday, Labour’s national executive committee adopted a new policy that rejected the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. Rabbis from across the spectrum had urged Labour to accept this definition; Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis warned that failing to do so would send an unprecedented ‘message of contempt to the Jewish community’.

Of course, that was the point. Labour does not like Jews very much; some within its ranks downright hate them; and if the party must give the appearance of discouraging anti-Semitism, it will define what is and isn’t anti-Semitism itself. As such, Labour members will not be proscribed from accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel rather than to Britain. Considering how pervasive that belief is within the party, Labour has at least saved itself a new wave of anti-Semitism complaints to pretend to care about.