How do Green voters square their pride in their own “anti-racist” credentials with the revolting online behaviour of many of the party’s candidates? It is not ordinary politics to post an image stating: “ramming a synagogue isn’t anti-Semitism, it’s revenge”. Nor is comparing Israel to Nazi Germany just part and parcel of ordinary debate.
It is extremism, spread, it is alleged, by candidates for a party riding high in the opinion polls. These are not isolated cases. Green Party candidates have defended the October 7 pogrom, questioned whether Zionism is a mental illness, and implied that anti-Semitism is justified.
When Jeremy Corbyn led Labour, MPs horrified by the rise of anti-Semitism resigned and condemned the party’s turn towards extremism (though not Sir Keir Starmer or Angela Rayner). When the BNP enjoyed a brief spell of success in the 2000s, the party was treated as beyond the pale, with controversy even over its leader, Nick Griffin, appearing in public debates. Perversely, the Greens are often lionised as nicer and kinder than other parties.
This is patently becoming unsustainable. The Greens’ leader, Zack Polanski, appeared to condemn police on Thursday for the manner in which they detained the suspect in the Golders Green terror attack. This prompted Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, to write to him, effectively accusing him of undermining confidence in the police at a fraught time. But the Greens could soon be handed the keys to town halls across the country. In 2028, they could win power over London, with control over policing in the capital.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to introduce a swathe of measures to tackle anti-Semitism. He criticised behaviour at anti-Israel marches, including the chanting of “globalise the intifada”.
That is all well and good, but where was Sir Keir in 2023 when Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary after she condemned the police for the way they handled the hate marches? Now anti-Semitism appears to have become normalised on the Left, a dog-whistle used to win votes from extremist Muslims and the hard-Left.
It will get worse if words are not matched by concrete action. The extremists could soon be in control of large parts of the country. What will the likes of Sir Keir do then? Will they pander to those spreading hate to shore up their political positions, or will they finally stand up for what is right? DT Letters.
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How do Green voters square their pride in their own “anti-racist” credentials with the revolting online behaviour of many of the party’s candidates? It is not ordinary politics to post an image stating: “ramming a synagogue isn’t anti-Semitism, it’s revenge”. Nor is comparing Israel to Nazi Germany just part and parcel of ordinary debate.
It is extremism, spread, it is alleged, by candidates for a party riding high in the opinion polls. These are not isolated cases. Green Party candidates have defended the October 7 pogrom, questioned whether Zionism is a mental illness, and implied that anti-Semitism is justified.
When Jeremy Corbyn led Labour, MPs horrified by the rise of anti-Semitism resigned and condemned the party’s turn towards extremism (though not Sir Keir Starmer or Angela Rayner). When the BNP enjoyed a brief spell of success in the 2000s, the party was treated as beyond the pale, with controversy even over its leader, Nick Griffin, appearing in public debates. Perversely, the Greens are often lionised as nicer and kinder than other parties.
This is patently becoming unsustainable. The Greens’ leader, Zack Polanski, appeared to condemn police on Thursday for the manner in which they detained the suspect in the Golders Green terror attack. This prompted Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, to write to him, effectively accusing him of undermining confidence in the police at a fraught time. But the Greens could soon be handed the keys to town halls across the country. In 2028, they could win power over London, with control over policing in the capital.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to introduce a swathe of measures to tackle anti-Semitism. He criticised behaviour at anti-Israel marches, including the chanting of “globalise the intifada”.
That is all well and good, but where was Sir Keir in 2023 when Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary after she condemned the police for the way they handled the hate marches? Now anti-Semitism appears to have become normalised on the Left, a dog-whistle used to win votes from extremist Muslims and the hard-Left.
It will get worse if words are not matched by concrete action. The extremists could soon be in control of large parts of the country. What will the likes of Sir Keir do then? Will they pander to those spreading hate to shore up their political positions, or will they finally stand up for what is right? DT Letters.