LABOUR’s candidate for East Renfrewshire has accused Jeremy Corbyn of having “totally failed” to tackle anti-Semitism in the party and said he does not deserve support from Jewish voters.
Carolann Davidson also said her party contained “racists and conspiracy theorists.”
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Ms Davidson, a Labour councillor in Paisley, launched the attack on the party’s leader at a hustings event organised by the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council.
She told the audience: “I know for almost everyone here that I can’t stand here and ask for your vote. I’m not going to, because we don’t deserve it.
“Labour has totally failed, from the leadership down, about anti-Semitism. I’m not here asking for your vote, so you’ll say ‘why are you here as a Labour candidate?’
“I want to reassure you as a community that there are still people within Labour who are not willing to surrender the party, that was once the strongest ally of the Jewish community, to racists and conspiracy theorists.
“I can’t defend the indefensible. What I can do is tell you who I am and what I stand for.”
Ms Davidson said she had confronted Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff, over the issue following a debate on anti-Semitism at the Scottish Labour conference earlier this year.
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She added: The very fact that she kept repeating that because some Jewish groups were okay with the Labour Party, she seemed to think that was all fine.
“I was horrified and told her exactly what I thought.”
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