Labour urges Jewish Labour Movement to stay – but tensions continue unabated

Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MPs, from the frontbench to the backbenches, issued messages to the Jewish Labour Movement last night. The moves were made ahead of an extraordinary meeting being held by Labour’s only affiliated Jewish organisation today.

As reported on LabourList last month, JLM – of which Luciana Berger is still the parliamentary chair, despite having left Labour to form The Independent Group – will discuss its future at private events in London and Manchester tonight. Although no formal decisions are set to be taken, the discourse will set the tone for the annual general meeting next month, where the group could disaffiliate from the Labour Party.

Last night, Jeremy Corbyn wrote to JLM chair Ivor Caplin acknowledging that Labour has dealt with disciplinary cases involving antisemitism “too slowly” and again extended an invitation to meet with him. This would allow the Labour leader to “offer reassurance about some of the misleading stories currently being reported”, the letter explains, before urging the group to continue its affiliation.

The shadow cabinet also issued a collective statement to JLM last night, in which the frontbenchers expressed support for “community security, public education and advocacy” as well as “strong sanctions… including expulsion where complaints are upheld”. It concluded: “We urge our colleagues in the JLM – a proud affiliate and essential voice within Labour for 99 years – to stay and to work with us.”

In response, JLM national secretary Peter Mason emailed members sharing the statements. He noted drily that “they have already been shared with the press before we could pass them on for you to read”, adding: “It will be for you to judge the sincerity of their content, and the record of the leadership and party’s actions.”

Separately, in an open letter organised by Stella Creasy, over 100 Labour MPs have said the party “has let our Jewish supporters and members down” and conceded that “words mean little when not backed by deeds”. There are frontbenchers among the signatories, including Barry Gardiner and Tom Watson, and the letter received Keir Starmer’s “full support”.

But elsewhere, critics of Labour’s handling of antisemitism are still clashing with the party leadership. On Tuesday morning, Dame Margaret Hodge accused Corbyn’s top team of intervening in disciplinary cases to lower sanctions and wrote to the leader saying he misled her.

Corbyn has now sent a reply to Hodge, in which he criticises the Labour MP for secretly recording a recent meeting between them. He addresses her claims by saying that staff members in his office had simply responded “in good faith” to requests for “help in clearing a backlog of cases”.