Pictured Above: British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, May 12, 2017. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

(March 5, 2019 / JNS) The British Labour Party is facing criticism over a decision to have Laura Murray, a close ally of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, to deal with anti-Semitism complaints within the party.

“As the daughter of a close friend who was hired as his Parliamentary aide, Laura Murray could not be closer to Jeremy Corbyn,” Campaign Against Antisemitism chairman Gideon Falter said in a statement. “It beggars belief that she was interfering in Labour’s disciplinary process without his knowledge. This goes straight back to Jeremy Corbyn.”

“Ms. Murray has Mr Corbyn’s ear and is trusted to carry out his wishes, which is why it is no surprise that she has been parachuted into the Party’s disciplinary unit. She used to copy him in on e-mails to us about antisemitism and sarcastically write to wish us ‘good luck’ with our demonstrations against antisemitism in the Party,” he continued. “The stench surrounding Jeremy Corbyn just got even more putrid. It is hard to believe that Labour MPs really imagine that their Party can be saved.”

Additionally, Murray, the daughter of a former Communist Party member, is being sued for libel by British television presenter Rachel Riley, who has been sounding the alarm about anti-Semitism in Labour.

This development was mentioned at a reportedly tense gathering of Labour members, where general secretary Jennie Formby—who said last month that it “is impossible to eradicate” anti-Semitism,” and that it is “dishonest to claim to be able to do so,” even though she acknowledged it is crucial to “eliminate the evil of anti-Semitism”—was confronted by numerous members who asked what the party is doing to rid itself of the scourge.

A Labour source told The Independent that Murray’s role is strictly to provide “administrative support” to deal with the huge volume of complaints.This kind of job reportedly does not consist of having input in the disciplinary process.

“This is standard procedure to reallocate resources from one part of the organisation when another part of the party comes under strain and requires additional staff support,” said the source. “Ensuring complaints on antisemitism are processed quickly is an absolute priority for the party which is why these additional resources have been reallocated.”

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