JEREMY Corbyn’s Scottish aide accused Labour’s deputy leader of making an intervention against anti-Semitism because he did not get a speaking slot at the party conference.
Zeyn Mohammed said the incendiary claim against party number two Tom Watson was the “truth”, but he deleted the allegation after it was posted on social media.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “Labour could easily offer sincere apologies and assurances to the Jewish community and start building bridges again. Instead, it seems many senior figures simply want to antagonise and hurt the Jewish community further.”
Labour under Corbyn’s leadership has been rocked by anti-Semitism claims for two years, but the row has escalated over the summer.
The party’s governing body, which is dominated by Corbyn’s supporters, refused to endorse all of the examples provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) for its own code of conduct of anti-Jewish prejudice.
The decision incensed Jewish groups and triggered a backlash among party members and MPs, many of whom want Labour to accept the full IHRA definition without equivocation.
On August 4, Watson, who despite being deputy leader is not close to Corbyn, used a newspaper interview to slam his party’s handling of the anti-Semitism issue.
“This is one of those moments when we have to take a long, hard look at ourselves, stand up for what is right and present the party as fit to lead the nation – or disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment,” he said.
He said of the IHRA row: “We should deal with this swiftly and move on. We can’t have this dragging on throughout the summer. I have made no secret of the fact that ... we should adopt the full IHRA definition and should do it without delay.”
Twenty-four hours later, Corbyn supporter Aaron Bastani, who co-founded Novara Media, tweeted: “I’m told by multiple sources that @tom_watson did interview attacking the leadership because he didn’t get speaking slot he wanted at conference. You threatened to do interview unless you got confirmation from Loto [Leader of the Opposition’s Office]...is that right Tom? If so what an appalling issue to exploit.”
Minutes later, Mohammed posted a link to Bastani’s tweet accompanied by a one word response: “Truth.” It was then deleted from his Twitter account, which has 1,600 followers.
Mohammed is a key figure in the party’s community organising wing and works in the leader’s office. He was present at a campaign event in Glasgow last week, which was attended by Corbyn.
He was quoted saying during the referendum campaign: “Some of the scare stories that have been coming out from the Better Together campaign, things like pensions, is obviously stuff that affects them badly. What we are saying to the grandparents is: look at how passionate we are, we have never been involved in politics before, we can work to build a better future for Scotland for everyone, including them.” Mohammed was then the election agent for the Scottish Greens in the west of Scotland during the Holyrood campaign in 2016. At the 2017 General Election, he was based south of the Border and played a key role in the Green party campaign in Bristol West.
It is understood he became involved in Scottish Labour politics through Richard Leonard’s successful leadership campaign late last year.
Corbyn is believed to be preparing the ground for a U-turn on the IHRA row.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on staffing matters.”
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