UK Labour Leadership Candidate Corbyn Denies Ties With Antisemites

But as he denied meeting Mr Jahjah in a lunchtime interview, a furious Mr Corbyn insisted he had spent his life fighting all forms of racism and said suggestions he was anti-Semitic were “beyond appalling”.

He added: “I won’t let our party repeat the history of the early 1980s when we were more interested in fighting each other and we left the pitch clear for Margaret Thatcher to bulldoze her way through Labour communities up and down the country”.

“Newspapers, by contrast and as I’m sure you are well aware, need only be concerned about the views of their readers and, in the Anglo-American tradition, are only expected (if not legally obliged) to be neutral in their coverage of news…There are many reasons why this is not seen as being ethically questionable”. He plans to offer Corbyn a job that uses his skills at pulling in crowds: the Labour equivalent of Boris Johnson’s campaigning role for the Tories in the 2015 election.

Mr Burnham answered questions from members on a range of issues from his policy on Palestine to his vision for the NHS – but the ensuing battle with Mr Corbyn was the topic most regularly raised.

“If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader…it will mean rout, possibly annihilation”, Blair wrote.

The other candidate fighting for the top place is Blairite MP Liz Kendall, who is bottom in the opinion polls of party members.

I haven’t been closely following the developments in British politics since the recent election, but people have been asking me to comment on the emergence of Jeremy Corbyn as a serious contender for the leadership of the Labour Party. “The Labour party should be making those demands now rather than leaving it to David Cameron to go and talk to whoever he wants to talk to and come back with whatever suggestions he does”, he said.

In either case, this proves a very worrying dilemma for democracy, despite party officials trying to reassure all four campaign teams yesterday (Corbyn, Burnham, Cooper and Kendall) that no “entryists” would be allowed to infiltrate the process.

Warnings from former prime ministers, party grandees, and current MPs do not appear to have halted his momentum and now Mr Corbyn is focusing on what may happen if he wins the race to succeed Ed Miliband on September 12.

The radical left Syriza party in Greece has just signed up to a deal imposing cuts.

“I am like Mr Corbyn a socialist, and we do share similar values”.

Mr Corbyn said: “My staff have researched this and tell me that I did meet this man in 2009 but I have no recollection of him”.

“It took Labour 18 years last time to win power”, said Mr Blenkinsop.

Praising the group, she said: “It’s a great idea”.

Mr Corbyn also suggested that military interventions would be rarer if he had control of Labour, given the convention of governments seeking parliamentary approval before taking action. The legislation now going through Parliament does not meet Labour’s objectives but is nevertheless acknowledged as an improvement on what we have at present.

“Andy has experience and I think he is Prime Ministerial material”.