The party leaders’ failure to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia shames our politics

Whether Labour or the Conservatives have it worse is irrelevant: both parties have substantial problems that warrant serious attention

It is lazy and inappropriate to compare the Conservative Party’s demonstrable problem to Islamophobia with Labour’s antisemitism problem.

While both are forms of racism, each has its unique roots and features; each demands separate and special attention; and each of our two main parties has its own history and methods of addressing it – or of not doing so, as the case may be. Indeed, one commonality of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the Labour and Tory parties is the failure to punish the culprits and, moreover, to change a culture that has allowed these racisms to engrain themselves within sections of both parties.

It is not necessary to indulge in “whataboutery” where these social evils are concerned, however. Whether Labour or the Conservatives have it worse is irrelevant: this is not a competition. What is relevant is that both parties have substantial problems that warrant serious attention.