Antisemitism goes unpunished at fractious party meetings
Labour Party figures are angry that disciplinary action has not been taken against members in a branch that was allegedly beset by incidents of antisemitism “with troubling regularity”.
An investigation was conducted into the Liverpool Riverside constituency party after a series of complaints about “uncomradely behaviour, endemic behavioural problems within meetings and incidents of antisemitism”, according to its final report.
The confidential document, which was presented to Labour’s governing committee around a year ago, was obtained by The Times this week. The investigation took place for up to 18 months, during which Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader.
Claire Kober interview: ‘The only thing worse in Labour than sexism is the antisemitism’
The Haringey council chief who quit after a campaign of abuse from the left talks to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson
There are many examples of the bullying and misogyny suffered by Claire Kober, who resigned this week as the Labour leader of Haringey council, but one meeting last summer sticks in her mind. The public gallery, which was packed with left-wing activists, had been “quite noisy” throughout the evening but as the event drew to a close, she recalls, “someone shouted ‘Kober’ and then they started singing the Police song Every Breath You Take, which is obviously about a man stalking a woman. It’s an isolated example but it gets to the culture of intimidation based on your gender.”
This week, Ms Kober — the most senior Labour woman in local government — announced her intention to stand down at the local elections in May after a vicious campaign orchestrated by the pressure group Momentum, during which moderate Labour councillors in the north London borough were purged and a local housing project blocked by the party’s ruling national executive committee. “You don’t realise how difficult something’s been until you reflect back on it,” she says. “You start each week in quite a positive frame of mind but if I look back over the last year it’s been pretty relentless. It feels like every week there’s a curveball and . . . much of it comes from Labour Party members.”
Rotherham Politics 
Ahh, the same ol’ ‘anti-semitism’ claims against Labour Party members who choose to openly criticise Netanyahu and the Likud Party/Far-Right coalition’s continuing reign of terror on Gaza and the West Bank, who insist on a two-state solution; it’s pathetic. If anything, Claire Kober should be charged with ‘bringing the party into disrepute’ for her constant promotion – what a weak defence of her policies/contracts on Andrew Marr this morning – of social-cleansing in Haringey. If she wants to continue with Neo-Liberalist policies, fine, but the Tory Party is that-a-way. As Thatcher said, New Labour were her ‘greatest creation’.
At my Conisbrough-Denaby LP branch, working class people are taking control of their lives, holding their (fantastic) newly-(s)elected councillors accountable (we get a monthly report of every move, as well as video of DMBC council meetings on YouTube); taking an active engagement in trying to make our village a better place to live e.g. pressing to take the continually failing De Warenne Academy back into LEA control – with a fully accountable board of governors – as soon as possible.
It’s pretty clear that the owner of this site despises ‘The Left’, and Corbyn in-particular, but that’s great, because we need debate in Rotherham/Doncaster/Barnsley as to how the people REALLY ‘take back control’; to restore our public services, schools, hospitals, transport, industry, restore our high streets to the former glory (those of us old enough to remember), and have a conversation as to how we fund new investment e.g. the lowest rate of Income Tax was 33% in 1979, the highest 86% – and we had very cheap transport, plenty of teachers, bins collected once a week, clean streets, police/fire/ambulance fit-for-purpose, free tuition and grants, plenty of apprenticeships/technical colleges (I could go on). I’m not suggesting a return to 1979 levels, but I think it should be much higher (particularly for the top 1-5%); drop VAT to 5% (that’ll get the nation spending, particularly on UK-made goods – and we can do this now that we’re leaving the EU). If we want an NHS fit-for-purpose, with care free at the point of delivery, we have to rethink how much we’re prepared to give out of our wage packets.
As an outsider looking in (but who spends a lot of time there, most of my best muckers living there) the most important and pressing issue for Rotherham is how we work to bring our communities together, not find new ways to divide us. We will forever be multi-cultural – there is no going back – and it’s better to celebrate the positive, uniting aspects of those faiths (and I’m an atheist!)
The sooner the owner of this site realises that all these ‘divisions’ are merely a distraction from the class system – ‘divide and conquer’ is exactly what the Establishment need to continue their domination – the sooner we might see some articles pointing to the real culprits who keep South Yorkshire from realising it’s full potential. I completely understand and empathise with your quest to highlight the mendacity and lies buried in the murk of Rotherham, but right now there is much to celebrate; seeing people of all colours come together to run the EDL out of town being a particularly proud moment, and hearing that Children’s Services have finally got their act together. Some positive stories about South Yorkshire now and again would be great.
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