Dave Prentis, the Unison general secretary, has become the second major union boss in two days to call for Labour to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition on antisemitism, arguing that not doing so is costing the party the moral high ground to oppose racial hatred and oppression.

Prentis said the row had become a dangerous distraction for Labour and made it easy for supporters of Boris Johnson to wave away criticism of the former foreign secretary’s controversial remarks about fully veiled Muslim women “by saying ‘what about antisemitism in the Labour party?’”

In an article for the New Statesman, Prentis wrote: “Right now, adopting the full IHRA definition of antisemitism including all the examples, removing those guilty of racism from our party and putting the issue of Labour and antisemitism to bed as quickly as possible is critical to [helping Labour win the next election].”

He said the issue was already costing Labour votes, “as I saw for myself when campaigning in Barnet” in local elections this year. “Worse than that, it’s harming Labour’s historically close relationship with the Jewish community. And it’s costing us the moral high ground from which to oppose all forms of racial hatred and oppression.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dave Prentis said the antisemitism row was already costing Labour votes. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

It comes a day after the GMB leader, Tim Roache, made the same argument, complaining that party members were “knocking lumps out of each other” when it should be exploiting Tory divisions. “It is abundantly clear that Labour has to accept IHRA examples of antisemitism in full, while agreeing that criticising the Israeli government and supporting our Palestinian brothers and sisters is not being antisemitic,” Roache wrote.

Labour has proposed to adopt the IHRA code while only including seven out of its 11 example definitions, prompting an intense row with the majority of the Jewish community inside and outside of the party. Although there have been hints that Labour is ready to yield on three of the four missing definitions, an impasse remains over a fourth – “claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour” – because of concerns about hindering legitimate criticism of Israel’s creation.

Responding to that, Prentis said: “Of course, in this debate, there is always an elephant in the room – the oft-repeated assertion that you can’t criticise Israel without being accused of antisemitism. I hear it a lot, but I’m not buying it.

“I’m not buying it as a regular critic of the Israeli government, settlements, expansionism and the blockade of Gaza.”



Meanwhile, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has accused Jeremy Corbyn of hiding from the antisemitism crisis engulfing the Labour party and called on him to “come out of hiding” and face up to the issue.

Marie van der Zyl said Corbyn had “seemingly disappeared” since last weekend, when he released a video and comment pieces, as she repeated a call for Labour to embrace the IHRA definition of antisemitism in full.

Play Video 1:15 Jeremy Corbyn: ‘I want Jewish people to feel at home in the Labour party’ - video

“He is in hiding from the media and refuses to face the obvious difficult questions. He is clearly just hoping it will go away. I’ve got some bad news for him. Unless he does what he needs to do, it won’t,” Van der Zyl wrote in an article for Jewish News.

Corbyn condemned antisemitism last weekend, writing that it was “Labour’s responsibility to root out antisemitism in our party” in a piece published by the Guardian.

But despite the speculation that the party might move to adopt three of the four outstanding examples, Labour’s formal position has not changed. Corbyn is on holiday and was pictured at Lion Rock Tea Rooms in Cheddar, Somerset.

Van der Zyl said Corbyn needed to resolve the issueand Labour should adopt all 11 examples in the IHRA code and open up the party’s disciplinary process to independent scrutiny, while Corbyn should acknowledge “the problematic nature of his own past actions”.

“You cannot lead through invisibility,” Van der Zyl concluded. “I call on Jeremy Corbyn to come out of hiding and do the right thing. Surely, by now, enough is enough.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “Jeremy Corbyn is a militant opponent of antisemitism, fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community.



“Jeremy has made clear in interviews, articles, statements and videos over the last few months that antisemitism has no place in our party or wider society, he is determined to eradicate it in all its forms and to rebuildtrust with the Jewish community.”



The former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy also criticised Corbyn’s handling of the crisis. He took out a full-page advert in the Glasgow edition of the Jewish Telegraph to accuse the party’s leadership of being “intellectually arrogant, emotionally inept and politically maladroit”.

Murphy called on Labour to adopt the IHRA code, with all its examples, and said it was the first time he had criticised Corbyn since he stepped down as an MP in 2015.

“He is the elected leader and, along with the shadow cabinet, has the opportunity to shape party policy,” Murphy said. “But no party leader has the right to shatter the relationship between Labour and British Jewry.

“Instead, what’s needed urgently is Labour action against the sickening anti-Jewish racism that is the actual cause of the offence in the first place.”