The reason Jews are scared of a Corbyn government

‘What is it with Jews and Corbyn?’ the guy asked. ‘Why are you so against him being in Number 10?’

I tend to avoid conversations about Jews and Corbyn with Labour voters these days. What more is there to say about the party’s anti-Semitism? If people still can’t see it, I generally take the view they are part of the problem. Over the last four years evidence of Labour’s institutional racism has been overwhelming.

But this guy – let’s call him Matt, an architect I met at a friend’s 40th birthday party in Hackney last week – really did appear to have been living under a rock since 2015. Somehow, he had not read the numerous articles about Labour’s anti-Semitism problem, had not seen the BBC Panorama programme on the subject, had not heard that Labour is being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over its anti-Jewish racism.