Labour MP John Mann resigns over Corbyn giving 'open license' to antisemites

"I have told him to resign for the good of the country and for the good of the Labour party."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
MP John Mann, Labour, resigned over Corbyn 'legitimizing' antisemitismi (photo credit: CHRIS MCANDREW/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
MP John Mann, Labour, resigned over Corbyn 'legitimizing' antisemitismi
(photo credit: CHRIS MCANDREW/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Labour MP John Mann will resign from Parliament in protest of party leader Jeremy Corbyn 'normalizing' antisemitism in the party, The Jewish Chronicle reported on Saturday.
Mann, who has served as the representative of Bassetlaw since 2001, decided to step down weeks before a likely election because he is "not prepared to stand as an MP with Corbyn as a leader."
"I have told him to resign for the good of the country and for the good of the Labour Party," he said, adding that, "when Corbyn goes, the problem doesn't go with Corbyn, but his failure to lead is the big problem – as is the problem of antisemitism on the Left."
According to Mann, Corbyn "is not just an enabler. He is the enabler in this country. His refusal to sort things out - and the things he has said in the past - gives an open license to it."
When speaking of antisemitism from the far-right and among members of the Muslim community in the UK, Mann said that "there is a big problem," but he has "never been one to shy away from dealing with the difficult issues."
"I've dealt with problems in the Conservative Party - brutally in the past," Mann told the JC. "They've been smart enough to sort them out."
"If there are antisemites in the Tory Party," Mann added, "I'll be as robust with Boris Johnson and James Cleverly as I have been with Labor in the past."
According to the JC, Mann rejected claims that the pro-Brexit movement, of which he is a supporter, has contributed to the rise in antisemitism, saying that "Brexit has divided the country, and where there is division there are often problems, but that would have been the same if Remain had won a vote that was split down the middle almost 50/50."
Mann said he will continue ensuring that the Jewish community maintains its "high level of civic engagement," saying that "the Jewish community is the canary in the cage for humanity - whether you like it or not."


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