Jeremy Corbyn says sorry for Labour's ‘real’ anti-Semitism problem
The opposition leader made his second attempt in three days to allay concerns of British Jews
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn apologised to Britain’s Jewish community for the “real” problem of anti-Semitism in the nation’s main opposition as he sought to contain a row that threatens to undermine support for his party.
“I acknowledge there is a real problem of anti-Semitism that Labour is working to overcome,” Corbyn said on Sunday in a video message on his official YouTube channel.
“I am sorry for the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people.”
It’s Corbyn’s second attempt in three days to allay concerns of British Jews, after an opinion piece he wrote for The Guardian last Friday – just before the start of the Jewish holy day – fell flat.
A steady stream of negative press threatens to undermine Labour as it gains momentum in the polls, tying or beating Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives in several recent surveys.
The Guardian article was derided by the Board of Deputies of British Jews as “ill-conceived” and “misleading,” and it called him to task for failing to accept in full an international definition of anti-Semitism devised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
