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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/05/i-am-not-part-of-labour-antisemitism-problem
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| I am not part of Labour’s antisemitism problem | I am not part of Labour’s antisemitism problem |
| (7 months later) | |
| Your article (Why Labour continues to struggle with antisemitism, 26 March) gave the entirely wrong impression that I was part of the Labour party’s antisemitism problem. | Your article (Why Labour continues to struggle with antisemitism, 26 March) gave the entirely wrong impression that I was part of the Labour party’s antisemitism problem. |
| It said: “In her report, [Shami] Chakrabarti concluded that Labour ‘is not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism’. She did acknowledge that ‘I have heard too many Jewish voices express concern that antisemitism has not been taken seriously enough’ and said that there was ‘an occasionally toxic atmosphere’. | It said: “In her report, [Shami] Chakrabarti concluded that Labour ‘is not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism’. She did acknowledge that ‘I have heard too many Jewish voices express concern that antisemitism has not been taken seriously enough’ and said that there was ‘an occasionally toxic atmosphere’. |
| “One example emerged on the day Ruth Smeeth, a Jewish Labour MP, walked out after a party activist Marc Wadsworth accused her of working with rightwing media to attack Corbyn. She tried to complain at the time and said she received no response from the leader’s office, although Wadsworth was suspended.” | “One example emerged on the day Ruth Smeeth, a Jewish Labour MP, walked out after a party activist Marc Wadsworth accused her of working with rightwing media to attack Corbyn. She tried to complain at the time and said she received no response from the leader’s office, although Wadsworth was suspended.” |
| I am not an example of antisemitism within the Labour party. Quite the opposite. I did not accuse Ruth Smeeth, whom I did not know was Jewish, of “working with rightwing media to attack Corbyn”. At the launch of the Shami Chakrabarti report, I mentioned an exchange between Kate McCann, the Daily Telegraph’s senior political correspondent, and Ms Smeeth. | I am not an example of antisemitism within the Labour party. Quite the opposite. I did not accuse Ruth Smeeth, whom I did not know was Jewish, of “working with rightwing media to attack Corbyn”. At the launch of the Shami Chakrabarti report, I mentioned an exchange between Kate McCann, the Daily Telegraph’s senior political correspondent, and Ms Smeeth. |
| Since then I have had to take several news media organisations to task and get them to correct inaccuracies about this. | Since then I have had to take several news media organisations to task and get them to correct inaccuracies about this. |
| To make this incorrect claim about me plays into a Jewish media conspiracy theory that I utterly reject and have never espoused. As a letter that you published noted (Labour must reinstate anti-racist activist Marc Wadsworth, 1 February 2017), I have spent a lifetime fighting anti-black racism and antisemitism. Here is the campaign page that gives a proper explanation: www.crowdjustice.com/case/justiceforantiracismcampaigner/ | To make this incorrect claim about me plays into a Jewish media conspiracy theory that I utterly reject and have never espoused. As a letter that you published noted (Labour must reinstate anti-racist activist Marc Wadsworth, 1 February 2017), I have spent a lifetime fighting anti-black racism and antisemitism. Here is the campaign page that gives a proper explanation: www.crowdjustice.com/case/justiceforantiracismcampaigner/ |
| May I note that, during the current debate, rampant anti-black racism and Islamophobia have been negligently ignored. Why? | May I note that, during the current debate, rampant anti-black racism and Islamophobia have been negligently ignored. Why? |
| With lawyers and witnesses who support me, including leading MPs and prominent Jewish Labour members, I will be vigorously contesting my Labour party suspension at a national constitutional committee hearing on 25 April.Marc WadsworthLondon | With lawyers and witnesses who support me, including leading MPs and prominent Jewish Labour members, I will be vigorously contesting my Labour party suspension at a national constitutional committee hearing on 25 April.Marc WadsworthLondon |
| Labour | Labour |
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| Race | |
| letters | letters |
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