Jeremy Corbyn supporters hound BBC presenter with anti-Semitic abuse after she humiliates Labour leader on childcare costs
Emma Barnett challenged the Labour leader six times for a figure on free care for children aged two to four
JEREMY Corbyn supporters hurled anti-Semitic abuse at a BBC presenter yesterday after she humiliated the Labour leader on childcare costs.
Emma Barnett, presenting Woman’s Hour on Radio 4, asked Mr Corbyn to set out the cost of his promise to provide free care to children aged two to four.
He was challenged six times for an answer and failed to provide a figure, despite going through his notes, manifesto and iPad.
After the interview, Barnett - an orthodox Jew - was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse on Twitter.
The @labour_insider feed run by the blogger Phillip David Jones, which often backs Mr Corbyn, said: “Breaking news. Allegations have surfaced that @emmabarnett is a zionist. Are the allegations true Emma?”
Another user, David Carter from Cardiff, whose Twitter account has shared links to Holocaust denial websites, posted: “Zionist Emma Barnett (family lived off the proceeds of brothels) . . . Who would have thunk it.”
A user calling himself Steven McNamara, who later deleted his Twitter account, said: “He should have known especially when a Zionist shill [stooge] like you who hates him is conducting the interview . . . she hate Corbyn.”
Support for Labour among British Jews has sunk to 13 per cent under Jeremy Corbyn, a new poll also revealed yesterday.
In contrast, nearly eight in ten said they will vote Tory on June 8, according to the latest poll for the Jewish Chronicle.
A string of damaging anti-Semitic scandals since Mr Corbyn took over as leader two years ago has seen support for Labour nose-dive.
Labour consistently polled in the mid-20s among the Jewish community under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
And even under Ed Miliband - whose support for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state angered the Jewish community - support still stood at 18 per cent.
Polling experts said yesterday’s poll confirmed that Mr Corbyn was “absolutely toxic” for Jewish voters and the community is “abandoning Labour in their tens of thousands”.
Labour’s support among British Jews hit an all-time low of 8.5 per cent last year when Ken Livingstone - a close ally of Mr Corbyn - claimed Hitler supported a Jewish homeland “before he went mad and killed six million Jews”.
Geoffrey Alderman, Politics Professor at the University of Buckingham, said Mr Livingstone’s anti-Semitic comments had heavily dented Labour’s backing among Jews.
He said: “The reservoir of support for Labour among Jewish voters has been breached.
"I do not believe Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite but I do believe he has surrounded himself with some very questionable people. His whole campaign has been tarred with this brush.”
Yesterday’s poll showed 77 per cent of UK Jews are planning to back the Tories at the General Election, 13 per cent backed Labour and 7 per cent said they would back the Lib Dems.
Meanwhile, a seat projection poll suggests Theresa May could be on course to lose the General Election.
The constituency-by-constituency estimate for The Times by YouGov indicates the Conservative Party could lose 20 seats and see its majority wiped out, while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour may gain 28 seats.
YouGov's analysis puts the Tories on 310 seats, down from the 330 they went into the election with, and 16 short of a majority.