Claims Shami Chakrabarti ignored allegations that senior members of Jeremy Corbyn’s inner-circle have a problem with anti-Semitism were made by a former Labour staffer who would leak “to anyone that would buy him a coffee”, it has been claimed.
The Independent understands that allegations members of Mr Corbyn’s office had a “blind spot” for anti-Semitism are “nonsense” and that Josh Simons, a former policy adviser, was pushed out of the leader’s office for leaking stories to journalists.
Mr Simons was gradually “kept out of the loop” and he eventually “got the hint” and left, an insider said, adding “he wasn’t particularly good at it [leaking]”.
He “would leak to anyone who buy him a coffee”, they said.
A second Labour insider, who strongly denied the allegations, described Mr Simons as “politically motivated” and confirmed he was removed from the leader’s office prior to the Tooting by-election.
According to the Sunday Times, a friend of Mr Simons, who formerly worked as a policy adviser in the leader’s office, claimed that some of Mr Corbyn’s inner-circle, including his director of communications Seumas Milne, had “at least a blind spot with anti-Semitism and at worst a willful disregard for it”.
The newspaper added that one member of the Labour leader’s office referred to a “Jewish conspiracy”. However, Ms Chakrabarti, the former chief of human rights group Liberty and soon-to-be Labour peer, made no reference to Mr Simons’s submission in her report on anti-Semitism in the party released five weeks’ ago, it was claimed.
Mr Corbyn’s official spokesperson told The Independent: “The allegations made against Seumas Milne and Jeremy Corbyn’s office are false and part of the campaign against his leadership. Far from disregarding antisemitism, Jeremy Corbyn has taken decisive disciplinary action over allegations of antisemitism, including the suspension of Ken Livingstone.”
They added: “He set up Shami Chakrabarti's inquiry into antisemitism and other forms of racism, whose reccomendations include far reaching changes to the rules and practice of the Labour party.”
“The Labour leader has held a series of serious constructive meetings with Jewish community leaders, including the board of deputies, and has repeatedly spoken out against antisemitism in all its forms.
“The person making these claims is a disgruntled former member of staff who was moved out of the leader’s office after leaking stories and now supports a rival leadership candidate.”
The Independent has contacted Mr Simons for a comment.
