Ed Balls slams Jeremy Corbyn over remarks about Jews and says Labour leader must show he understands anti-semitism outrage
ED Balls has said Jeremy Corbyn "crossed the line" with remarks he has made about Jews and must show he understands why the Jewish community is "upset and worried".
The former shadow chancellor said Mr Corbyn has failed to show "sufficient" determination to allay concerns and distance himself from extreme views.
Speaking to , he said: “I do think that in term of some of the things he's said he's crossed the line.
"That is something that has got to be addressed with more vigour than we've seen so far.
"Jeremy has not done enough to distance himself from some of the past statements and “some of the people he appeared on platforms with.
"The nature of leadership is you have to show that you understand why people are upset and concerned as well as showing regrets at the way that things have been said or reported or done."
“But moderate Jewish activists or councillors are being made to feel there’s no place in the party for us anymore."
The broadside comes after Birkenhead MP Mr Field insisted he still wanted to stay a Labour member - which he has been for 60 years.
And he told The Sun was confident of mounting a “successful” legal challenge to his expulsion.
A legal victory for Mr Field would be potentially explosive for the spiralling rebellion of moderate MPs against Mr Corbyn.
It would mean dozens of others would also be free to resign the whip and ignore Mr Corbyn’s daily voting orders without fear of getting the boot from the wider party.
Mr Field also said he is considering triggering an embarrassing by-election, in which he would run against an official Labour candidate.
Labour denied Mr Field had been ejected from the party, insisting instead that he had in effect expelled himself.
The row’s dramatic escalation came as a second rebel Labour MP declared he will also resign the party whip next week if Jeremy Corbyn fails to adopt a strong new antisemitism rules.
Longstanding MP for Ilford South Mike Gapes’s ultimatum to follow Frank Field out comes ahead of a crucial showdown meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee on Tuesday.
The 69 year-old veteran Socialist boss is under massive pressure to adopt the full international Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition without any caveats.
The hard left Labour leader is still insisting on having a free speech defence that allows hard left members to criticise Israel’s right to exist.
If Mr Corbyn doesn’t climb down, Mr Gapes said he will “consider his position”.
Five Labour MPs who could quit
JEREMY Corbyn is facing further departures over anti-Semitism.
A series of moderate Labour MPs are said by comrades to be weighing up whether to follow Frank Field and resign the party whip.
The five seen as most likely are:
- Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South
- Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree)
- Iain Austin (Dudley North)
- Wes Streeting (Ilford North)
- Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North)
Saying he was “tainted and sickened” by the avalanche of racism charges against Labour, he added: “I am agonising every day about the situation and the state of the Labour”.
Another Labour MP John Mann called on Mr Corbyn to “show leadership” by announcing every Jewish MP will be automatically reselected as a candidate for the next election.
Mr Mann added: “That’s leadership Jeremy, so get leading”.
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