Naz Shah, a Member of Parliament, and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone have both been suspended from the Labour Party, and the party’s leadership has been forced onto the perpetual defensive and faced with a barrage of accusations of anti-semitism.
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The elections are seen as the biggest test of Mr Corbyn’s leadership so far and come amid a party row over anti-Semitism.
A leading figure in the Kent branch of Labour campaign group Momentum has been suspended by the party for controversial comments about the Holocaust.
A poll released on Tuesday found Mr Goldsmith lagging nine points behind Labour’s Sadiq Khan, but Mr Cameron joked that he “could tell you a thing or two” about polls following last year’s general election success. He said he would offer “more homes, better transport, safer streets, cleaner air” by working with Mr Cameron.
“The bottom line is that those eligible to vote in the Labour Party leadership election strongly supported Jeremy Corbyn past year and that has not significantly changed”, he said.
The Labour leader had apparently meant to say that the party was “not in the business of losing seats”, according to his spokesman. “I’m very clear about that”.
Mr Corbyn insisted anyone who committed racist acts or was anti-Semitic was “not a friend of mine” and he urged the PM to think about his own conduct and that of the Tory Party in “systematically smearing” Mr Khan by linking him with Mr Ghani, who turned out to be “an active Conservative supporter”. “We have set up a commission of inquiry”.
In an article published Wednesday in The Telegraph, Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Labour Party has a “severe” problem with anti-Semitism and called on Corbyn to take “decisive” action.
“We are not making predictions about seat losses or gains”.
There were also reports yesterday that Labour MP Margaret Hodge could be used as a “stalking horse” challenger to Corbyn’s leadership.
Ms Walker was the sixth Labour member to be suspended over anti-Semitism allegations this week and polling suggested the growing scandal had slashed political support among British Jews for the party.
But in the United Kingdom the post has sent shockwaves through the Labour Party, leaving the country’s political opposition reeling from accusations of anti-semitism toward its highest ranks.
In a blog post on Saturday, April 30, Councillor Kelly, who describes himself as a socialist, said Livingstone had “devoted his whole life to eradicating racism and any form of bigotry”.
“He has been involved in peace and reconciliation processes all over the world, including Latin America, the Middle East, Ireland and elsewhere and he will continue to pursue dialogue in areas of conflict, as he always has done”, said the spokesman.
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One reporter took issue with this, saying he had been standing right next to Corbyn at the time and that was exactly what he said.
