Westminster today - as it happened: Jeremy Corbyn to meet Jewish leaders to address antisemitism in the Labour party
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Jeremy Corbyn is expected to meet with Jewish leaders later today for talks following a row within the party over accusations of antisemitism.
Organisations representing Jewish communities will call on Mr Corbyn to use his “personal authority” to drive through changes to wipe out the problem in the party.
It comes after the Labour leader apologised in an article in the London Evening Standard, saying his party had "not done enough" to tackle the issue and admitted that Labour method's of dealing with antisemitism were "not fully fit for purpose".
Jewish people “deserve an apology”, he said, adding that he was “sorry for the hurt and distressed caused”.
He continued: “Antisemitism is a poison that must be challenged wherever it raises its head, across Europe and at home. Hatred and bigotry towards Jewish people has no place in our society, whether on the streets or online. And that of course goes for the Labour Party too."
“We have not done enough to get to grips with the problem, and the Jewish community and our Jewish members deserve an apology. My party and I are sorry for the hurt and distress caused.”
Admitting the party's current structures are “simply not fully fit for purpose” when it comes to dealing with anti-Jewish abuse, he outlined a series of steps Labour will take to address the problem. These include a “programme of political education” to help party members recognise and tackle antisemitism, and the appointment of a legal expert to advise on disciplinary matters.
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As we await the unveiling the statue in Parliament Square, here's a brief profile from the Press Association on Millicent Fawcett.
Born in the seaside town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, in 1847, she was sent to a London boarding school and took an interest in women's suffrage aged 19 after hearing a speech by radical MP John Stuart Hill.
Her sister, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, faced an almighty struggle to become the first female doctor in the UK and this fight spurred on Fawcett in her campaign for female equality.
She married Henry Fawcett, a politician and professor of political economy at Cambridge, in 1867 and made her first speech on women's suffrage in 1868.
She became a well-known activist and speaker before becoming president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in 1897. This group joined together lots of suffrage factions, including Emmeline Pankhurst's suffragette movement.
Fawcett was an advocate for peaceful protest, using non-violent demonstrations and petitions to MPs. She believed that by demonstrating that women were intelligent, law-abiding citizens then they would be seen to be responsible enough to participate fully in politics.
In 1913, Emily Davison threw herself under King George V's horse at Epsom in a bid to draw attention to the plight of women in the UK. Shortly afterwards, Fawcett made a speech in which the line "courage calls to courage everywhere" was said.
The phrase is on the banner which Fawcett is holding on the bronze statue in Parliament Square.
In 1918, the Representation of the People act was passed, granting voting rights to some women in the UK. To qualify, you had to be over 30 years old and hold £5 of property, or have a husband who did.
In 1928, voting rights were extended to all women over 21, in line with men, and an 81-year-old Fawcett watched on in the public gallery in the House of Commons as the bill was passed.
She died one year later.
Today, the Fawcett Society, named in her honour, continues to fight for gender equality and in February this year Fawcett won a BBC Radio 4 poll for the most influential women of the past 100 years.
This is from our political sketch writer, Tom Peck, who as it the statue unveiling
in Parliament Sq.
The statue of Millicent Fawcett is about to be unveiled in Parliament Square.
Caroline Criado-Perez, the campaigner behind the statue, is recalling running past the Sq around two years, on international women's day, and noticed out all 11 out of 11 statues were women. She immediately set up a petition, which attracted 85,000 signatures.
Theresa May is now addressing the crowds, she says she would not be standing here today as Prime Minister if it was not the Millicent Fawcett.
Jeremy Corbyn said he had an "absolute determination" to root out antisemitism ahead of today's meeting with Jewish leaders.
Asked what he would say to the Jewish groups, he told ITV News: "We are going to have a good discussion, a good discussion about their concerns and about my absolute determination to ensure there is no anti-Semitism anywhere, in any party in Britain, including my own."
My colleague Rob Merrick has been listening to Dr Aleksandr Kogan be questioned by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the Commons. He is the Cambridge researcher at the centre of the Facebook data breach.
Jeremy Corbyn has written a piece for the Evening Standard on antisemitism, in which he says: "My party and I are sorry for the hurt and distress caused."
There will be an urgent question in the Commons shorty on Yemen. This is likely to be the prominent topic:
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