The Green Party’s new “Zionism is racism” policy is worse than anything that happened under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, the government’s antisemitism tsar has warned.
In 2020, a report by the UK’s human rights watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), found Labour responsible for “unlawful” acts of harassment and discrimination during Mr Corbyn’s four-and-a-half years as leader.
John Mann told The Independent that the Greens had gone “well beyond anything ever tried under Jeremy Corbyn” and claimed the way some of the party’s members were being treated “is something unprecedented in Westminster since the Second World War”.
Lord Mann said: “The Greens are increasingly becoming a sect, which totally contradicts the concept of environmental and ecological politics.
“The way some of their Jewish members and supporters are being treated is something unprecedented in Westminster since the Second World War.”
“It’s well beyond anything ever tried under Jeremy Corbyn. The ultimate irony is the one closest to their policy is Ben Gvir, who also wants one unified state rather than two states,” he added.
His comments come after widespread condemnation of the party’s move to adopt a policy that defines Zionism as racism.
The chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, warned the move was a “threat to British Jews and to Britain”, the chair of Jewish Greens has said she is considering leaving the party over the decision and former party leader Caroline Lucas said she was “so deeply sad” the motion passed.
The US will also make “representations” to the UK government over the policy, Washington’s top adviser on antisemitism, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, has said, while party leader Zack Polanski, who did not vote, has been barred from entering Israel in retaliation.
Leading barrister Adam Wagner KC has also said there is a strong risk the motion, passed at the Greens’ annual conference this weekend, contravenes the Equality Act 2010.
The move has prompted questions over the direction of the party and the future of Mr Polanski, who is standing to replace Keir Starmer in parliament in a by-election in the Holborn and St Pancras seat on Thursday, as leader.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has long been a controversial figure. Earlier this year he sparked global outrage after promoting a video of himself taunting activists from a flotilla to Gaza who were detained by his police force.
Meanwhile, there have been growing calls for political parties to refuse to enter into any kind of coalition arrangement with the Greens, after senior Labour figures told The Independent on Monday that Andy Burnham should rule out any collaboration.
After a member of the Greens’ sister party, the Scottish Greens, backed the policy, Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Conservative MSP, said on X, formerly Twitter: “No mainstream political party in Scotland should now have anything to do with the extremist antisemitic Scottish Greens.”
In response to Lord Mann’s comments, a Green Party spokesperson pointed to Mr Polanski’s statement on Monday night in which he said: “Under my leadership, no one will be made unwelcome because of their background, their faith, or where they worship. As leader, my role is to bring people together and ensure we are all working in unity for the things we believe in and care about: freedom and safety for all.
“When I was elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, I was so proud to stand as a Jewish party leader, side by side with my deputy leaders Mothin and Rachel. Together, we exemplify everything this party stands for: we come from different backgrounds, faiths and traditions, but we share our deeply held values of compassion, fairness and equality for all.”
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