In trying to tackle antisemitism in the Labour Party- it always felt that there was a small group of us on the left trying to wade through the bullshit and make a difference. We faced opposition on the left and the right. Trying to make the argument that people in the party had behaved atrociously and used Jews as political fodder and that there was a very serious antisemitism problem- both things are true and do not cancel out each other. And the Party couldn’t hide behind excuses.

I am shocked reading Jonathan Arkush’s article. Jeremy Corbyn is not anti- Semitic, he does not hold anti- Semitic views. The examples Arkush uses do not evidence that he does. I cannot understand what Arkush is trying to achieve here but I know it isn’t about being constructive There is a real problem to be dealt with, in the Labour Party and in society and, I must have said this a thousand times, accusations like he has made create hysteria that distract from the facts and the real fight against anti-semitism