Theresa May attacks Jeremy Corbyn over Labour antisemitism in conference speech
Prime Minister hits out at the Labour leader as her own MPs criticise her for the progress of Brexit negotiations
Theresa May aimed a personal attack at Jeremy Corbyn over Labour antisemitism and claimed his Labour party offered only “bogus solutions”.
The Prime Minister used her Conservative Party conference keynote speech to hit out at Mr Corbyn and his allies, highlighting the bitter row over antisemitism and claiming the current Labour leadership rejected the “common values” once shared by both main parties.
“What has befallen Labour is a national tragedy,” she said.
Comparing Mr Corbyn to his predecessors, the Prime Minister said: “Would Neil Kinnock, who stood up to the hard-left, have stood by while his own MPs faced deselection, and needed police protection at their Party conference?
“Would Jim Callaghan, who served in the Royal Navy, have asked the Russian government to confirm the findings of our own intelligence agencies?
“Would Clement Attlee, Churchill’s trusted deputy during the Second World War, have told British Jews they didn’t know the meaning of anti-Semitism?”
She added: “What has it come to when Jewish families today seriously discuss where they should go if Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister?
“When a leading Labour MP says his party is ‘institutionally racist’?
“When the leader of the Labour Party is happy to appear on Iranian state TV, but attacks our free media here in Britain?
“That is what Jeremy Corbyn has done to the Labour Party.
“It is our duty, in this Conservative Party, to make sure he can never do it to our country.”
In a clear pitch for mainstream voters she claimed were “appalled” by Mr Corbyn, she said she wanted the “decent, moderate and patriotic” Conservatives to be “a party for the whole country”.
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: “While the country is crying out for real change, all Theresa May and her party offer are pinched ideas and tinkering around at the edges, relying on petty attacks to cover up their lack of vision.”
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