Is there Another Antisemitism Crisis Brewing in Newham Labour Group?
Word has reached us that Cllr Shaban Mohammed is facing an internal Labour inquiry regarding antisemitic remarks he is alleged to have made. We are told that this is not a single complaint, but consists of multiple complaints of antisemitism.
This should alarm even the most laid-back member of the Labour Party.
We thought that we’d reflect on the number of complaints over the last 30 years, under two leaders.
From 1995-2018 there were exactly 0 complaints of antisemitism. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Between May 2018 and the present date we have:
Leading to the Hirsh Report. Newham Labour hosted a Facebook account on which some of the more left-wing members posted some less than wholesome remarks concerning Jews. Apparently, being left-wing gave you immunity from antisemitism, or so they thought. The former Deputy Mayor, and another key apparatchik in getting Fiaz selected was the moderator of the Facebook account and did nothing to combat this.
Newham Council was accused of “Endemic Antisemitism”.
And then there were all those councillors who chose to make unguarded remarks. Such as Cllr Suga Thekkepura.
Of course, there was the short-lived career of Cllr Mughal.
Not to be outdone, there was Cllr Nazir Ahmed.
And Cllr Riaz Mirza.
Perhaps the greatest embarrassment came when the deeply antisemitic views of Cllr Belgica Guana came to the attention of the party that had sponsored her four years in office. She was suspended on the eve of the election, which led to the rather embarrassing situation in which a known antisemite was elected on a Labour ticket.
And now we have allegations that cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness, Cllr Shaban Mohammed is under investigation. We have reached out to JLM for comment.
We await the outcome of Labour’s inquiry.