Tom Watson defends Jeremy Corbyn's handling of anti-Semitic mural row
3 min read
Tom Watson has defended Jeremy Corbyn's handling of the row over his decision to protest against the removal of an anti-Semitic mural.
The Labour leader has expressed "regret" that he "did not look more closely" at the work by artist Kalen Ockerman, which featured a group of elderly Jewish men playing Monopoly on the backs of emaciated bodies.
When Mr Ockerman complained on Facebook in 2012 that the mural was to be removed, Mr Corbyn replied: "Why? You are in good company. Rockerfeller destroyed Diego Viera’s mural because it includes a picture of Lenin."
Luciana Berger, the Labour MP who first raised the issue, has called for Mr Corbyn to appear at tomorrow's meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party to explain himself.
Appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Watson said the mural was "horrible and anti-Semitic", but insisted Mr Corbyn had not seen it properly before commenting on it.
He said: "You're showing it me on a 32-inch screen on national television. I've seen it about a hundred times on social media - very different from seeing it on Facebook when you're on the move."
Mr Watson added that Mr Corbyn "has expressed deep regret and apologised for that and said it's right that the mural was taken down".
He added: "I'm very sorry that people feel hurt by this, and that's why it's right that Jeremy has expressed regret for it. He's said that he didn't see the mural. Now that he has seen the mural, he's right to say that it was removed."
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Watson also backed Mr Corbyn's decision to sack Owen Smith as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary after he called for a second EU referendum.
Mr Watson said: "He does know how collective responsibility works. When you join the Shadow Cabinet you may have your own personal views but you're there representing the collective view of the Labour party. If I'm being honest, I don't think Jeremy really had a choice other than to ask him to stand down."
He also stopped short of ruling out Labour eventually calling for a referendum on the final Brexit deal.
"What we want is a meaningful vote," he said. "You should always try to keep your options open in a negotiation but I think it is highly, highly, highly unlikely that we will be calling for a second referendum."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
