Thousands of Jews may leave Britain if Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister without eradicating antisemitism from Labour, Europe’s most senior rabbi has warned, comparing it to fears over a Marine Le Pen presidency in France.
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, also criticised Mr Corbyn for attending a passover dinner hosted by the far-left Jewdas group, saying that he was in effect telling mainstream Jewish bodies to “go fly a kite”.
His comments come as polling shows that Mr Corbyn’s personal ratings have dropped sharply. A YouGov poll of 1,662 people for The Times reveals the proportion of those who say he is doing “badly” has jumped by 19 points since December 19-20 to 56 per cent, with the proportion who say he is doing “well” down 14 to 31 per cent. This has not hit Labour’s overall ratings, as 42 per cent say they will vote Conservative, down one point on last week, while Labour is on 41 per cent, up two points. The Lib Dems are on 7 per cent, down one.
Mr Corbyn has conceded that the party’s antisemitism problem is more than “a matter of a few bad apples” and has said: “I am committed to ensuring the Labour Party is a welcoming and secure place for Jewish people.”
The article by Kaya Burgess, Sam Coates and Lucy Fisher appeared in The Australian reproduced from The Times.