And although he was, in effect, the ringleader, he must not be the only antisemite booted out. In the aftermath of the report, the floodgates opened. Corbyn-supporting Labour members swarmed social media with posts blaming the victims of antisemitism for the report.
It will be a large undertaking for the party’s new disciplinary processes but if Labour is serious about changing, each of them should be expelled.
In that context, while those Labour members who fought Jew hate (often at great personal cost) deserve praise, those who said or did nothing but now try to portray themselves as brave warriors against racism deserve only contempt.
At the top of that list stands Fabian Hamilton, the (Jewish) MP for Leeds North East, who told Jews to be be “less hysterical and angry” about Labour antisemitism and spoke out in defence of Chris Williamson.
Mr Hamilton now says he “regrets” taking the “wrong” approach. Doubtless he does, because the party is no longer run by Jew haters and there is no career boost to defending them.
Mr Hamilton may be a particularly egregious example of Labour’s fellow travellers of antisemitism but his behaviour is fairly standard for the majority of Labour MPs who were not themselves racist but who either stood by and watched or came to the defence of the racists in the supposed interests of the party. They are, in their own way, as responsible as the others.
