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Miriam Margolyes says there could 'easily' be a pogrom against British Jews

'There are people who are boiling with hate and resentment and entitlement in this country and it is alarming'

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Actress Miriam Margolyes has said far-right nationalism could "easily" lead to a pogrom in Britain.

Ms Margoyles, who has publicly supported Jeremy Corbyn amid allegations of Jew-hate within his party, told the Guardian that anger on social media led her to believe: "We could have a pogrom easily in this country. It could be against Jews, it could be against Poles, it could be against Gypsies.

“There are people who are boiling with hate and resentment and entitlement in this country and it is alarming.”

Ms Margolyes, 78, said she believed antisemitism was “widespread” in the Conservative Party, but that it was “never mentioned”.

“What a collection of nasty people there are in charge of us,” she said. “What a disgrace. I’m disgusted by that government.”

The Blackadder and Babe star was one of more than 200 British Jews to pledge their support for Mr Corbyn before the general election in December, saying the Government's policies were "completely at odds with the Jewish tradition of social justice and likely to fuel the rise of the far right".

“People don’t like Jews. I’ve accepted that,” she told the Guardian. “There is some antisemitism [in Labour], but it is nowhere near as much as people say.

“Corbyn handled it badly and I regret it, because he’s a good man and he’s not an antisemite.”

Ms Margolyes also said that, growing up as the daughter of a doctor and a property developer, her small Jewish family as “a fortress, just the three of us. It was passionate, close, adoring.”

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