Jewish lawmaker in Britain threatens to quit Labour over anti-Semitism issue

Parry Mitchell, a Jewish member of Britain’s House of Lords, said he will resign if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected as Labour Party leader.

Writing Tuesday in The Times of London, Mitchell said a report which found that anti-Semitism is not endemic in Britain’s Labour Party was an “insipid whitewash” and vowed to leave the party if Corbyn retains his post in a September leadership contest.

“Anti-Semitism has no part in a progressive party. I have come to the painful conclusion that were Mr. Corbyn to be re-elected next month, I will have to resign my membership of the Labour Party,” Mitchell wrote, according to the website City AM.

The report, prepared by Labour member Shami Chakrabarti in the wake of several anti-Israel statements by Labour lawmakers, found that while there is “occasionally toxic atmosphere” against Jews in Labour, anti-Semitism is not prevalent in the party’s ranks. The report was harshly criticized by British Jews.

In an interview with Britain’s Jewish Chronicle, Mitchell said there had been a “hijack” of the party by the far left and expressed hope that British Jews would back his stance.