BY JOHN ISMAEL

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has a serious antisemitism problem. That is a fact. Its bigots’ widespread hatred of Israel, its loathing of religion – and yet its Muslim block votes – make the political party’s antisemitism problem one that will not go away, save for mass expulsions of Momentum members and Corbynites on the far left of the party.

So, what do Labour do? How should they respond to their antisemitism crisis, which even Corbyn stalwarts like Emily Thornberry confirm afflicts the Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn was right to sit down with Jewish leaders back in April. His so-called crunch meeting with them was arranged to discuss what steps he has taken to address the problem of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Before the meeting the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies of British Jews claimed the Labour leader had been slow to act on the recommendations of a 2016 report and they wanted disciplinary cases speeded up. They insisted Mr Corbyn use his “personal authority” to drive cultural change.

How did Corbyn do?

He repeatedly promised to take action against anti-Semitism yet the Jewish leaders present were left unimpressed by him and felt his approach was lacklustre. As the BBC’s political correspondent Iain Watson confirmed, “the issue remains a potent force in the hands of the Labour leader’s internal and external opponents.”

What do Labour’s political advisers suggest for a way forward now, two months on? After all this time, what is their genius strategy?

“Attack the Tories on Islamophobia”.

Yup, you read that right.

The Conservative Party of Nusrat Ghani and Rehman Chisti is Islamophobic is it? The party that made a Home Secretary out of the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, Sajid Javid – Javid talks openly of his Muslim heritage – has an ingrained bias against Muslims? Sayeeda Warsi has become an annoying windbag yet she’s still a Muslim Tory peer.

Did Seumas Milne mishear strategy orders on a crackly line from Moscow? Or do the Labour Party run a book with Ladbrokes to revert to a bingo card of dim, repeatable smears?

Now some unknown from the Conservative Muslim Forum has given an interview on the Independent blog, saying that Islamophobia is rife across the Conservative Party, listing examples such as Theresa May liking an anti Muslim forum on Facebook, a Senior Tory ranting about Mohammed and deep-rooted large numbers of members pronouncing despicable anti Muslim views on fora. Err, no. The anti Muslim incidents were:

• Five BME Tory members being seated on a single table at the back of a room at a Conservative association dinner
• One Muslim member telling how a councillor had told him he was “not welcome” in the party
• The same member later being told during a candidate’s interview that “naturally in your core belief women are not allowed to work”.

Wow.

Mind-blowing.

Enough to smear a whole party as being Islamophobic. Not.

It used to be that the Labour Party could get away with smears. Nowadays too many people – in part thanks to awareness caused by social media – see through them and are too aware of the Far Left’s old tactic of placing trolls and smearers on the backs of talented conservatives when they begin to rise from the fold. Those days of putting conservative stars off politics are almost over.

Nowadays, pound shop Machiavellis like Tom Watson are out-thought and outmanoeuvred by right-leaning kids in their bedrooms who broadcast to far greater audiences than Watson could ever muster, preaching reason, illumination and soundness on channels like YouTube. Genuine thinkers and communicators like those on the Fabian Society teat are toothless shills, who would get obliterated if the right ever bothered to fight back in the culture war paid Labour placers engage in 24/7.

Smearing the Tories for “Islamophobia” (a word created by fascists on the Left and “used by cowards to manipulate morons”, as the late Christopher Hitchens used to say) smacks of Labour’s extreme desperation and talentless strategists. Ask Muslims rather than Islamists like the disgraced MCB…. they are embarrassed by the term and would prefer if it was jettisoned from the English lexicon.

Labour is fighting a terminal disease and will lose, against a backcloth in the UK of a wider awakening. Antisemitism will sink Corbyn. Antisemitism will sink Labour. Antisemitism will sink the Far Left.

Next smear, Labour?

Bring it on. What doesn’t kill us simply makes us stronger.