Jeremy Corbyn 'to back tough new anti-Semitism stance'
1 min read
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will back rule changes designed to tackle anti-Semitic abuse at his party’s conference next week, a new report has said.
A motion proposing a tougher stance on sexism, Islamophobia, racism and homophobia will be put to a vote by members, according to the Guardian.
Currently those signed up to the party cannot be disciplined for “the mere holding or expression of beliefs and opinions”.
The change has been put forward by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), and comes in response to remarks made by the former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, that were widely perceived as anti-Semitic.
However, Labour’s increasingly powerful grassroots movement, Momentum, has reportedly said its support for the motion will depend on the final wording.
JLM’s national vice-chair, Mike Katz, said it was crucial that the motion wins support from all sides.
"Fix this and we start fixing the relationship between the party and the Jewish community – not just the right thing to do, but it helps us get closer to winning back seats in Jewish areas we narrowly lost out on in June,” he said.
A Labour source told the newspaper Mr Corbyn was in favour of the change in principle, saying “Jeremy is committed to tackling anti-Semitism and is hopeful that the NEC will pass this motion”.
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