Jeremy Corbyn is “unfit to be prime minister”, the Labour Party’s Jewish wing has said as it officially backed a no-confidence motion in their leader.
The Jewish Labour Movement motion, which was backed almost unanimously, said Corbyn has condoned Jew-hatred and presided over a “culture of anti-Semitism” in a devastating blow to the leader of the opposition on Sunday.
It singles out Corbyn as “directly responsible” for the party’s anti-Semitism crisis, but also hits out at the shadow cabinet, general secretary Jennie Formby and the party’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee.
It reads: “JLM believes the leadership of the party have demonstrated they are anti-Semitic, and have presided over a culture of anti-Semitism in which they have failed to use their personal and positional power to tackle anti-Semitism, and have instead used their power to protect and defend anti-Semites.”
It concludes that “blame for the crisis of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and the party’s failure to deal with it therefore ultimately rests with Jeremy Corbyn.
“Jeremy Corbyn is therefore unfit to be PM and that a Labour government led by him would not be in the interests of British Jews.”
The motion was carried after passionate speeches by Jewish Labour MPs Ruth Smeeth, Margaret Hodge and Louise Ellman.
It came as a Sunday Times investigation revealed what it claimed were serious failings within the party’s complaints system.
The paper alleged some party members reported for posting online comments such as “Heil Hitler” and “Jews are the problem” a year ago have not yet been kicked out.
Labour had failed to take disciplinary action in hundreds of cases, due to delays, inaction and interference from the leader’s office, it was reported.
The hard drive of emails and a confidential database last updated on March 8 also showed that a trade union official was readmitted after being accused of sharing material saying “Jewish Israelis” were behind 9/11, according to the report.
In another case, a Labour official ruled a council candidate accused of describing Jewish MPs as “Zionist infiltrators” met the threshold for suspension, but then ruled he should not be suspended as he “is a candidate”, the paper said.
It reported that 454 of 863 complaints were unresolved, including 249 where the party had not started an investigation, and that of 409 cases where a decision was reached, 191 members faced no further action, 145 received a formal warning and fewer than 30 were expelled.
Labour said the figures quoted in the story were “not accurate”.
A spokeswoman said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and we are committed to rooting it out of our party. All complaints about anti-Semitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures. We can’t comment on individual cases.
“Lines have been selectively leaked from emails to misrepresent their overall contents.”
Jeremy Corbyn has publicly condemned anti-Semitism a number of times and has said the party does not tolerate it.