Theresa May has taken a vicious parting shot at Jeremy Corbyn on her final day in office. Among the slew of announcements on its website, the government revealed that she’s appointed Labour MP John Mann as an “independent adviser on antisemitism”.
Many will remember Mann from his infamous rant at Ken Livingstone in 2016, not to mention his regular attacks on Corbyn himself. That’s whom May has deemed capable of offering ‘independent’ advice to government on the issue.
Antisemitism is racism
Speaking about the appointment, May said:
Antisemitism is racism. It has absolutely no place in our society and we must fight its bitter scourge wherever it rears its head.
That’s something that everyone appears to agree on. As the Labour Party recently wrote:
The Labour Party at all levels is implacably opposed to antisemitism and is determined to root out this social cancer from our movement and society.
In fact, in response to allegations of antisemitism in the party, Labour commissioned an inquiry into antisemitism in 2016. It also says that, under the new general secretary Jennie Formby:
the rate at which antisemitism cases have been dealt with has increased more than four-fold
Furthermore, Corbyn has just announced the launch of an online guide to fighting antisemitism. These are just a few examples of the efforts the party has made to tackle the “social cancer”.
It also says the antisemitism cases it’s dealt with amount to 0.06% of Labour’s half-a-million-strong membership.
Not good enough
Nonetheless, Mann remains very critical of his party on the issue. In March, he told LBC he’s “ashamed” of his party’s leadership on antisemitism. He was also one of the MPs who wrote to Corbyn and his team recently, claiming that their “bunker mentality” is “causing immense damage to the Labour Party”. And while the Labour MP says “antisemitism is not the preview [sic] of any particular perpetrators”, he’s not so forthcoming with criticism of the Conservative Party for, say, its links to far-right, antisemitic parties in Europe or rampant Islamophobia.
No wonder May thinks he’s the perfect ‘independent’ adviser on antisemitism.
Featured image via YouTube – Global News / YouTube – Sky News
