Sadiq Khan has weighed in on the Labour antisemitism debate, claiming that some of the cases were so “glaringly obvious” that the party should have been quicker at kicking out offenders.

The London mayor singled out his predecessor Ken Livingstone, saying it was “difficult to believe” that he had not been expelled nearly two years on from his “clearly antisemitic” remarks.

He issued a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn to “walk the walk” on tackling antisemitism within the party, after the Labour leader instructed his new general secretary, Jennie Formby, to make it a priority.

Corbyn has been accused of failing to tackle the issue head-on after a series of recommendations from an internal review by Shami Chakrabarti were slow to be implemented, with several still outstanding.

Khan told the Guardian that he had spoken to Jewish Londoners who “genuinely believe” that the Labour party was not for them because it had failed to deal with the problem effectively.

It came after Corbyn’s backbenchers had rounded on the failure of the party to tackle antisemitism in a blistering three-hour debate on Tuesday night that featured furious speeches from many Labour MPs which threatened his efforts to show that he is a “militant opponent” of antisemitism.

Play Video 5:32 Labour MP applauded in Commons for antisemitism speech – video

Speaking at City Hall, Khan said: “A number of Londoners of Jewish faith I spoke to are finding it very difficult because they genuinely believe the Labour party is not for them. Why? Because they’re Jewish and there’s a perception that the Labour party has not dealt with the problems of antisemitism. You can’t escape the fact they genuinely believe that.”



The London mayor, who said last year he was “deeply disappointed” that Livingstone had not been expelled from the party, insisted the veteran politician’s remarks linking Hitler and Zionism were “clearly antisemitic”.

Of course we’ve got to have due process. But some of this is so glaringly obvious I don’t see why it takes so long Sadiq Khan

“I find it difficult to believe that two years on we haven’t managed to resolve this complaint,” he said. “Any member against whom an allegation of antisemitism is made has got to have that allegation investigated speedily, and if they are antisemitic, kicked out of the party.”

He said Labour must have “zero tolerance” for anybody who was racist, adding: “Some complaints which are open and shut can be done very quickly. Some complaints may take longer. Of course we’ve got to have due process. But some of this is so glaringly obvious I don’t see why it takes so long.”

In the House of Commons, Theresa May accused Corbyn of allowing antisemitism to “run rife” in the Labour party after he criticised her over the handling of the Windrush generation scandal.

“He talks about being callous. I will not take that following a debate last night where powerful contributions were made particularly from [Ruth Smee, Margaret Hodge and Luciana Berger]. I will not take an accusation of [being] callous from a man who allows antisemitism to run rife in his own party.”