We ignore the Jewish community’s warnings against Jeremy Corbyn at our peril
Ian Austin on Sky News
The Jewish Chronicle is the world’s oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper, founded in 1841. Hitherto, it has never taken sides in a general election. This week, the JC (as Jews affectionately call it) devoted its entire front page to a leading article under the banner headline: “To all our fellow British citizens.” The paper appealed to non-Jews not to vote Labour for as long as it is led by Jeremy Corbyn.
In this unprecedented stand by the organ of the Anglo-Jewish community, there are echoes of the Dreyfus Affair in France. More than a century ago, the greatest French novelist of the day, Emile Zola, published an article headed “J’accuse!”. He denounced the lies of the French authorities, which had connived with the army to condemn an innocent officer for the crime of being Jewish. The affair convulsed French society for a generation, but Dreyfus was eventually pardoned. It was a famous victory for the freedom of the press.
It should be a source of shame for British gentiles that the JC should have been driven to publish such an appeal. Those who know its editor, Stephen Pollard, can testify to his lack of partisanship in normal times. But when 87 per cent of British Jews believe that the Leader of the Opposition is an anti-Semite, these are not normal times.
Britain faces an emergency. We are sleepwalking into an election where the leadership of one of our two main parties has seemingly embraced the ideology that, within living memory, led to the murder of six million Jews in Europe.
It is not only Jews who fear the consequences of electing an anti-Semite. Senior Labour politicians have been lining up to denounce Corbyn for his views. Yesterday it was the turn of Ian Austin, who resigned from the Labour Party last February and is now standing down as an MP. “Jeremy Corbyn is an extremist,” he said. “To lead our country, you’ve got to be able to say you love Britain and I do not think he is a patriot. He has sided with our country’s enemies, whether that’s supporting the IRA or saying Hamas and Hezbollah are his friends.”
It is true that Ian Austin has a particular reason to feel strongly about anti-Semitism. His father was a Czech Jew who escaped the Nazis and was himself adopted by a British family. Ian was adopted by Fred, the founding head of Dudley School, and his wife Margaret, also a teacher.
Ian Austin went on to become MP for Dudley 14 years ago, subsequently serving as Gordon Brown’s Parliamentary Private Secretary and later as a minister and in the Shadow Cabinet under Ed Miliband. He, like his family, are true patriots, devoting their lives to serving their West Midlands community. Austin represents all that was best about the Labour Party.
It is tragic that at 54 such a man no longer feels able to stand for the party he loved. “Until Jeremy Corbyn became the leader I would never have imagined voting for anyone else…I’m not a Tory.” Yet now Austin recommends Labour patriots like himself to vote Conservative. “I wouldn’t say that Boris Johnson was unfit to run the country. I don’t think he is.”
Contrast Austin’s visible struggle with his conscience with the cynical reaction of John McDonnell, whose priorities — like Corbyn’s — have never been patriotic. The Shadow Chancellor dismissed Austin’s critique as self-interested: “He’s now employed by the Tories. What else do you expect him to do in an election campaign?” This was a reference to Austin’s role as a trade envoy to Israel — an unpaid, unpolitical position to which he was only appointed in July.
Rather than admit that his party has failed Jewish citizens at the most basic level, McDonnell claimed that Labour’s handling of anti-Semitism had been “rapid and at times ruthless”. This is the strategy of the big lie — a denial of reality so brazen that those who are not paying proper attention might believe it.
The fear that has gripped the Jewish community is, however, undeniable. A poll in September by the JC found that 40 per cent of British Jews would consider emigration if a Corbyn government were elected. Quite simply, Jews would not feel safe under Labour. But Jews are, as they have been throughout modern history, the canaries in the mine. This week Lord Hutton, the former Labour Defence Secretary, warned that Corbyn would make the whole country “less safe”. If you happen to be Jewish, you have no choice but to vote against a Labour Government on December 12. The rest of us do have a choice. Jeremy Corbyn, j’accuse!
