Jeremy Corbyn facing backlash after denying Luciana Berger MP was ‘hounded out’ of party

Jeremy Corbyn sparks outrage as he claims Jewish MP Luciana Berger was ‘not hounded out of the party’ and that she ‘unfortunately decided to resign’

  • Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing fresh calls to be expelled from party 
  • He denied claims former Jewish MP Luciana Berger was ‘hounded out’ from Labour after she cited bullying and the party’s failure to tackle anti-semitism
  • Speaking at the time Ms Berger, 40, accused Corbyn of turning Labour into an ‘institutionally anti-semitic’ party as she and seven other MPs quit 


Jeremy Corbyn has faced fresh calls for his expulsion from Labour after he denied that Jewish MP Luciana Berger was ‘hounded out’ from the party amid an anti-semitism row.

Ms Berger, 40, former Labour representative for the Liverpool Wavertree constituency, resigned her position in February 2019 – citing bullying and the party’s failure to tackle anti-semitism.

Speaking at the time, she accused Corbyn of turning Labour into an ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’ party filled with abuse as she and seven other MPs sensationally quit the party.

Meanwhile, a landmark 130-page report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found ‘significant failings in the way the Labour Party has handled anti-Semitism complaints over the last four years’ with ‘specific examples of harassment, discrimination and political interference’.

But the former Labour leader told Cambridge University’s debating society that Ms Berger was ‘not hounded out’ and instead chose to ‘unfortunately resign’.

Jeremy Corbyn has faced fresh calls for his expulsion from Labour after he denied that Jewish MP Luciana Berger was ‘hounded out’ from the party amid an anti-semitism row in 2019

Mr Corbyn had been singled out for criticism by some of his party’s most prominent female figures over the treatment of Jewish MP Luciana Berger two years ago.

Harriet Harman, the former leader, Margaret Hodge, and Dame Louise Ellman all called for Berger to be spared from being ousted for criticising Corbyn’s handling of the anti-Semitism crisis.

But speaking this week to Cambridge University’s Joel Rosen, Mr Corbyn claimed his party ‘gave her all the support she needed and deserved’.

He also explained that although Ms Berger was on the receiving end of ‘appalling abuse’, but that ‘Diane Abbott received appalling abuse – and so did Dawn Butler.’  

Joe Glasman, the head of political investigations at the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, told the Telegraph: ‘Despite the findings of the EHRC, and despite the complaints made by us against him, and despite his brief suspension from the party and ongoing suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party, he continues to refuse to accept the scale of the problem or his responsibility for it. 

Ms Berger, 40, the former Labour representative for Liverpool Wavertree, resigned her position in February 2019 - citing bullying and the party's failure to tackle anti-semitism

Ms Berger, 40, the former Labour representative for Liverpool Wavertree, resigned her position in February 2019 – citing bullying and the party’s failure to tackle anti-semitism

‘Mr Corbyn has not learned a thing.

‘Given that Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that anyone who holds views such as these ‘should be nowhere near the Labour Party’, it is time for Mr Corbyn to go.

‘We have previously called for Mr Corbyn to be expelled by the Labour Party. We reiterate that call today.’

Mr Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party last October after he downplayed a damning report into anti-Semitism that ruled that it illegally harassed and discriminated against Jews under his leadership.

Among the charges levelled at Labour were the fact that out of 70 anti-Semitism complains analysed, 23 showed signs of ‘political interference’ by Mr Corbyn’s office and others.

Although he wasn’t directly cited in the report, the ‘lack of leadership within the Labour Party’ was drawn to – which it said was ‘hard to reconcile with its stated commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism’.

Speaking at the time Ms Berger described the findings as ‘damning’ and added: ‘I don’t think they could have been any worse than what we’ve heard and seen today’.