Rachel Reeves has provoked outrage on social media after she appeared to brand film director Ken Loach an ‘antisemite’.
Speaking to the Guardian, Labour’s shadow chancellor was questioned over whether Labour had become “gung-ho” in “labelling people antisemitic who simply aren’t.”
The newspaper’s leading interviewer Simon Hatterstone, who is Jewish himself, said he agreed with Keir Starmer’s zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism in the party, but said that in some cases “there is a danger of destroying lives in the process.”
Reeves stressed she was not personally involved with decisions around those found guilty of downplaying or denying antisemitism, and did not know the details of all cases.
But she added that it is “so important that we are seen to – and we do – tackle antisemitism.
“Ken Loach, you might like his films, but his views … well, certainly, they are not ones I share.”
Hatterstone responded by telling the shadow chancellor that in the case of Loach “this doesn’t make him antisemitic”, to which Reeves replied:
“You don’t think Ken Loach is antisemitic? OK. Well, I think we might have to agree to differ.”
In June, Loach said antisemitism is being used to purge Labour of politicians on the left as he criticised the party for blocking a mayor for sharing a platform with him.
The director blamed Starmer for what he called a “dishonest” move to prevent serving North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll to run for the North East mayoralty.
The move was linked to him speaking at an event alongside Loach, who was expelled from the party amid efforts to tackle the antisemitism experienced during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
The UK’s equalities watchdog found Labour was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination as the former leader struggled to tackle antisemitism.
But Mr Loach told the PA news agency that keeping Mr Driscoll off the longlist published on Friday because they shared a platform was the “lamest excuse I’ve ever heard”.
After criticising Sir Keir for having “broken his commitments” during the leadership campaign, Mr Loach added: “The whole antisemitism issue has been substantially revealed as a campaign that is not based on fact.
“It’s based on political determination to do a number of things, to remove people from the left, to protect the state of Israel, which many people, many Jewish people in the Labour Party, oppose, oppose this campaign.”
Mike Katz, the national chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement, which had spoken out against Mr Driscoll for speaking alongside Mr Loach as “hugely upsetting” for the Jewish community, criticised the director’s “denialism”.
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