Jeremy Corbyn needs to start showing leadership over the Labour antisemitism row

There are some whose services really ought to be dispensed with for good. That holds true even if Mr Corbyn may feel vestigial loyalty to them as long-standing allies on the socialist left

Jeremy Corbyn says the Labour party is taking action against antisemitism (Jane Barlow/PA)

This is a moment for action, not words. In his interview with Jewish News, as in countless other statements recently, Jeremy Corbyn has condemned antisemitism, pledged to fight it and promised action to deal with it.

That, of course, is all well and good.

But when and where will the action start? Why has it taken so long – and required an unprecedented protest by Britain’s Jewish community – to stir him?

Just as importantly, we should ask when and from where did this virulent modern strain of antisemitism on the left emerge? What has happened to a party that could once rely on the votes of a large majority of British Jews and which boasted many Jewish intellectuals in its ranks (not least among them Ralph Miliband, father of David and Ed) and in its governments?

Mr Corbyn said the other day that there were “pockets” of antisemitism in his party. If it is indeed the case that around 70 official complaints about antisemitic incidents in the party remain outstanding, then there are plainly an awful lot of “pockets”.

One “pocket” may have been the failure by the chair of Labour’s disputes committee, Christine Shawcroft, to properly investigate the case of a Labour candidate for Peterborough council, and his alleged activities on Facebook (which the man in question denies were motivated by antisemitic feeling).

She has now resigned from that post – though some say she might have been going to anyway because of her parliamentary ambitions.

She remains, though, on Labour’s ruling national executive and the NEC officers group. She is, as she was even before the term’s invention, a Corbynite and a committed woman of the hard left. It would be naive to think she is not still useful to Mr Corbyn and his allies – but that is no reason to allow her to stay in position after such a signal failure to deal adequately with this complaint of antisemitism.

Ultimately, if Ms Shawcroft is permitted to retain her position in the party then all the talk about zero tolerance means little to nothing. There are others too whose services really ought to be dispensed with for good. That holds true even if Mr Corbyn may feel vestigial loyalty to them as long-standing allies on the socialist left.

The departure of Christine Shawcroft from the NEC itself would be a powerful symbol of change (it would also mean the arrival on the NEC of Eddie Izzard, the runner-up in the last round of elections). The same goes for Ken Livingstone, apparently in permanent limbo as a suspended member.

Putting the party – and its traditional values – first means taking tough action against old friends and fellow political warriors, even if it pains Mr Corbyn to do so. It also means doing so even if some of those urging action have no interest in helping Labour and actually want to destroy those at the party’s head.

Ultimately it is a question of leadership; and Mr Corbyn needs to show it now.

(By the by, Mr Corbyn might be reminded that, when it suited him, Mr Livingstone was perfectly happy to run against an official Labour Party candidate to be mayor of London. Loyalty, as they say, cuts both ways).

Mr Corbyn should also audit the views and writings of some of those in his close circle. He can no longer afford to be complacent about any of this. If he wants to stop figures such as Tony Blair implying that he and his colleagues don’t “get” antisemitism, then he requires more than warm sincere words and reassurances. He cannot just wait for the next revelation to come along; he needs to get on the front foot.

During the current row many Labour politicians, including John McDonnell and Mr Corbyn, have publicly regretted not implementing the recommendations of a report by Shami Chakrabarti into these problems two years ago. True enough, but those recommendations – which were not focused on antisemitism specifically – were not sufficiently tough in any event, and had a generally indulgent tone to Labour members who transgressed.

The current stress on “political education” misses the point – it suggests that much of the new antisemitism is down to an almost childlike misunderstanding and that the problem is really about political correctness and using sensitive language.

If only.

In fact, much of the new antisemitism is in fact perfectly conscious and calculated, emerging from a deliberate merging of anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist and antisemitic views into one vast, confused but nevertheless pernicious conspiracy theory. The Labour members responsible for this are not a bit misguided – they are fundamentally wrong.

A lecture is not going to change their minds. Being shown the door might.