Margaret Hodge should not be disciplined for calling Jeremy Corbyn anti-Semitic, says Labour Lords leader
3 min read
Margaret Hodge should not be disciplined for calling Jeremy Corbyn an "anti-Semitic racist", according to Labour's leader in the House of Lords.
Baroness Smith said "people lose their temper from time to time" and that the party should focus on tackling its anti-Semitism problem instead.
The confrontation between Ms Hodge and the Labour leader came after the party's National Executive Committee last week endorsed a controversial new code of conduct on anti-Jewish abuse.
Jewish groups, religious leaders and Labour MPs have reacted angrily after party bosses refused to fully endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, as well as a list of examples.
A friend of Barking MP Mrs Hodge - who lost relatives in the Holocaust - told PoliticsHome: "She said 'you are an anti-Semitic racist'. When he protested, she said 'it is not what you say but what you do and by your actions you have shown you are an anti-Semitic racist'."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn announced on Wednesday that "action will be taken" against the former minister.
Asked on the Radio Four's Westminster Hour whether Mrs Hodge should be disciplined, Baroness Smith said: "I suspect not. Jeremy’s not exactly somebody who’s not used to harsh words on that.
"It happens to any Labour leader, and I think people lose their temper from time to time and people are entitled to make their views known to other people in the Labour party and to the leader of the Labour party. So I hope we just move on from that. The key is tackling this issue."
Baroness Smith also urged Labour to adopt the full IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.
She said: "I’d like to see that. I’d like to see that. I think that’s the way forward because that’s the one that gives the Jewish community confidence and with that they have confidence that we’re tackling it properly."
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has urged his MPs to delay a crucial decision on the party’s anti-Semitism rules until Autumn.
A meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday evening will debate an emergency motion calling for full adoption of the IHRA definition.
But the Labour leader said should be put on hold until September, after Parliament's summer recess.
Speaking at a festival in Dorset, Mr Corbyn said: “I’d rather they delayed that discussion until September because there will be a full attendance at meetings in September.
“I suspect Monday’s meeting will not be fully attended because Parliament is rising on Tuesday.”
Asked how he felt about his confrontation with Margaret Hodge, Mr Corbyn replied: “I felt not pleased about it. I felt upset about it.
“But I am, as always, very calm and I always treat people with a great deal of respect.
“I don’t shout at people I just listen to what they have to say, and a complaint has been registered and that will have to be dealt with by the party but that is independent of me.”
Asked if he had spoken to Ms Hodge about the incident, he said: “Not since then, no.”
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