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Hard-left union puncher Len McCluskey was at the center of a new dispute over Labor anti-Semitism today after telling Tony Blair’s former head of spin, Peter Mandelson, to go off and ‘count your gold’.
The Unite kingpin took to Twitter last night to hastily apologize after pointing the pick at Mandelson, whose father was Jewish, in a BBC Newsnight interview.
He was asked about the former Hartlepool MP, now Lord Mandelson, praising Sir Keir Starmer’s new Labor leadership when he lashed out, saying: I stopped listening to what Peter Mandelson said many, many years ago.
I would suggest that Peter just walk into a room and count his gold and not worry about what is happening in the Labor Party. Let’s leave that to those of us who are interested in ordinary working people.
He later backed off on social media, tweeting: “Before this gets out of hand, let me say that language is important and I apologize to Peter Mandelson and anyone else if mine has caused harm.”
But Jewish MPs and other moderate Labor attacked Unite’s general secretary, a close friend and supporter of former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose time in office was bogged down by anti-Semitism.
The Unite kingpin took to Twitter last night to hastily apologize after pointing the pick at Mandelson, whose father was Jewish, in a BBC Newsnight interview.
He later backed off on social media, tweeting: ‘Before this gets out of hand, let me just say that language is important and I apologize to Peter Mandelson and anyone else if mine has caused harm’
Lord Mandelson was a close associate of Tony Blair during his time as Prime Minister and MP for Hartlepool before being appointed Companion
‘Why McCluskey uses tropes that many would consider anti-Semitic on BBC Newsnight is a question only he can answer.
Regardless, it does not get to obfuscate us and dictate what is and what is not anti-Semitic when called.
“The ignorance with which McCluskey and others use these tropes shows how pervasive and indisputable anti-Semitism is on the far left.”
The Chairman of the Jewish Labor Movement, Mike Katz, added: ‘Stay stylish, Len. Quite disgusted by his language on Newsnight.
But I suppose you are in the best position to know what is anti-Semitic. Like he has more experience winning a general election than Mandelson. ‘
Euan Philipps, a spokesman for Labor Against Antisemitism, added: “Not surprisingly, but still shocking to hear one of the most important figures in the British Labor movement apparently reveal such a poisonous vision.
For the past four years, McCluskey has at times appeared to reject anti-Semitism in the Labor Party, describing it as “background music,” but this is the first time that he has made such an apparently anti-Semitic comment himself.
“ We hope that the Human Rights and Equality Commission, which has yet to be published, on institutional anti-Semitism in the Labor Party, will provide a framework to address this type of anti-Jewish racism, and we look forward to the forthcoming retirement of Mr. McCluskey as secretary. union general Unite.
Earlier this month, Unite, the party’s largest donor, announced that it was reducing its membership in the Labor Party by approximately 10 percent and Mr. McCluskey warned Sir Keir that he must represent “ordinary working people.”
Sir Keir has been frantically distancing Labor from the disastrous Corbyn era, which culminated in the party’s reduction to its worst electoral defeat since 1935.
The party leader recently delivered his keynote address at a “virtual” Labor conference with the slogan “a new leadership” on the podium, and has scheduled the party’s prior handling of allegations of anti-Semitism among activists.
But there has been strong resistance to the changes on the left, with demands that Sir Keir stick to his predecessor’s platform of nationalization, massive spending and high taxes.
In a previous interview with Newsnight, McCluskey cautioned: ‘I have no doubt that things start to move in different directions and ordinary working people start saying, well, I’m not sure what Labor means.
But I don’t see at this time any dramatic move to withdraw from the Labor Party. The Labor Party is our party. ‘
McCluskey was particularly critical of Labor paying whistleblowers for the party’s handling of anti-Semitism under Corbyn.
“I think financing arrangements are definitely an issue that may come up,” McCluskey added.
Mandelson with Tony Blair in the Commons in 2001 when he was secretary for Northern Ireland (left) and (right) at Hillsborough Castle the same year
Jewish MPs and other moderate Labor attacked Unite’s general secretary, a close friend and supporter of former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose tenure was bogged down by anti-Semitism.
