A BITTER row over racism in Labour is threatening to overshadow Jeremy Corbyn’s four day visit to Scotland this week.
The party leader is determined to win back support north of the Border which would be crucial to helping him secure the keys to Number Ten in the event of a snap general election.
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But on the first stop off on his tour yesterday at a bus manufacturer in Falkirk as part of the party’s campaign to promote British industry, he faced fresh questions over anti-Semitism.
Over the weekend former Scottish MP Jim Sheridan, now a councillor in Renfrewshire, was suspended from the party over a post on social media which suggested he had lost respect for the Jewish community following the anti-Semitism row engulfing the party.
READ MORE: Calls for Corbyn ally to be kicked out of Labour over anti-Semitism
The Labour leader condemned Sheridan’s comments and vowed to take action against anyone who behaves in an anti-Semitic way as he stopped off at Alexander Dennis as part of the party’s “Build It In Britain” campaign.
“It’s completely wrong what he [Jim Sheridan] said. He did withdraw it later on, he has been suspended from membership, there will be an independent investigation – independent of me that is – so I can’t comment any further,” Corbyn told reporters.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour urged to adopt anti-Semitism definition in full
“We do not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form, in our party or anywhere in our society.”
And as the Labour leader visits Lanarkshire today to meet election candidates, the SNP are urging him to end the party’s “back door coalition” with the Tories in North Lanarkshire Council.
Writing in The National, MP Marion Fellows said: “You have come to Motherwell and Wishaw to talk about ‘socialist values’. Actions are louder than words. Take action and end the Labour-Tory coalition in North Lanarkshire Council once and for all.”
In recent weeks Corbyn has come under pressure over issues linked to anti-Semitism and the Israeli Palestinian conflict, including the party’s definition of anti-Semitism, his 2014 visit to a Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia and meetings with those connected to the Palestinian cause. He has become exasperated with journalists asking questions about his actions.
As he battled to overcome the controversy, concerns were raised again at the weekend about the party’s attempts to tackle Islamophobia, with Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf accusing Richard Leonard of failing to deal with the issue.
Yousaf hit out over what he regarded as an apparent lack of action to deal with a councillor who made slurs against him. Dumfries and Galloway councillor Jim Dempster was suspended by Labour in March after he said if Yousaf ever visited his ward “no one would have seen him under the burka”.
Dempster apologised, but on Sunday night Yousaf tweeted the Scottish Labour leader demanding to know the results of a party investigation. He said: “Hey @LabourRichard at Pakistan Welfare Trust dinner tonight you said you have a zero tolerance approach to Islamaphobia. It has been 5months since a ScotLab Cllr admitted making Islamaphobic remarks against me. I was told investigation will conclude in July. I’ve heard nothing.”
He added: “I’ve never been interviewed by ScottishLab HQ either have the other witnesses I have spoken to. Step up @LabourRichard and show me you are serious about tackling Islamaphobia by your deeds not empty, hollow words.” Labour said it took allegations of racism seriously. Corbyn gave a talk with Yanis Varoufakis at the Edinburgh Book Festival last night and will deliver the Alternative MacTaggart lecture to the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday.
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