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Jeremy Corbyn’s right-hand man John McDonnell accidentally says Labour is ‘a party that is anti-Semitic’
The Shadow Chancellor also insisted Labour critics of Jeremy Corbyn don't understand his stance on anti-Semitism
JEREMY Corbyn's right-hand man John McDonnell today said Labour "is a party that's anti-Semitic" in an embarrassing blunder.
The Shadow Chancellor accidentally appeared to admit that the party is inherently racist when discussing its anti-Semitism problem.
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Mr McDonnell also dismissed the concerns of Labour veteran Margaret Hodge - saying she confronted Mr Corbyn because she didn't understand the party's new policy.
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, he said: "Let me put this message out to anyone. We are a party that is anti-racist and anti-Semitic.
"Sorry, we are against anti-Semitism. We are a party that attacks anti-Semitism wherever it is, either in our party or in our community."
He called for the disciplinary action against Dame Margaret, who called Mr Corbyn "a f**king anti-Semite and a racist", to be resolved quickly.
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Margaret Hodge dubs Jeremy Corbyn a racist again over his failure to stamp out anti-Semitism
Mr McDonnell accused the long-serving MP of "haranguing" the party leader because of a "misunderstanding".
He said Dame Margaret was "extremely angry and lost her cool" in the "out of character" outburst.
The Corbyn ally added: "Jeremy was deeply upset because, when you have someone haranguing you in that way, of course it's upsetting.
"Those sorts of accusations, when he has worked so hard on the issues of anti-Semitism and anti-racism, of course he's upset.
"I realised there was a complete misinterpretation of the code, so I can understand why she was so angry if that's what she believed this code had done.
"I think it's a complete misunderstanding and we can resolve this amicably and move on."
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Dame Margaret confronted Mr Corbyn in the Commons last week after Labour approved new rules on anti-Semitism.
The new code of conduct is accused of being too soft because it allows party members to compare Israel to Nazi Germany.
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Today Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith came to her defence, telling the BBC: "Margaret quite clearly has had some appalling times herself in terms of prejudice against her and a massive challenge with the BNP to deal with, so if she wants to have a very clear word with Jeremy that’s entirely up to her.
"The idea that Jeremy would want to set up an atmosphere in the party where people couldn’t go and say things to him is completely absurd. It’s just not his way of dealing things.
"I think we’d all prefer to have somebody speak to your face rather than behind your back. It’s important that we have those discussions and if it means we need to do a lot more work to get things right let’s do it."
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