Jeremy Corbyn says he did not intend to ‘belittle concerns’ about antisemitism in Labour

Former Labour leader expresses ‘regret’ at pain caused for Jewish community

Corbyn says claims have not been exaggerated (Getty Images)

Jeremy Corbyn has said he did not intend to “belittle concerns” about antisemitism in his response to a report into Labour by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The former Labour leader was suspended by his party last month after he said the issue of antisemitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and the media.

Labour’s top brass has banned discussion of the suspension at party meetings, and a number of members have been suspended after a constituency branch voted to condemn the disciplinary action.

In a statement to the party on the day of his suspension, Mr Corbyn said the publication of the EHRC report “should have been a moment for the Labour Party to come together in a determination to address the shortcomings of the past and work as one to root out antisemitism in our own ranks and wider society”.

The former leader said that through his original response – which also condemned antisemitism as “absolutely abhorrent” and stated that “one antisemite is one too many” – he had intended to highlight that the vast majority of Labour members were not antisemitic.

“We must never tolerate antisemitism or belittle concerns about it. And that was not my intention in anything I said this week,” Mr Corbyn said in the statement, which was made public on Tuesday.

“I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would exacerbate or prolong it.

“To be clear, concerns about antisemitism are neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’. The point I wished to make was that the vast majority of Labour Party members were and remain committed anti-racists deeply opposed to antisemitism.”

The former leader said he fully supported  Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept all the EHRC recommendations in full and “in accordance with my own lifelong convictions, [I] will do what I can to help the party move on, united against antisemitism which has been responsible for so many of history’s greatest crimes against humanity”.

Sir Keir had previously said those who believed the issue of antisemitism in the party had been exaggerated or was a factional attack were “part of the problem” and “should be nowhere near the Labour Party”.

Labour declined to comment on Mr Corbyn’s latest statement, with the party saying it would not give a running commentary on disciplinary matters.

The EHRC's report found that Labour was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination, citing “serious failings in the party leadership in addressing antisemitism and an inadequate process for handling antisemitism complaints”.