and raped.
Perhaps the most egregious example of her treatment is by the party, though. She became aware of a physical threat to her only because of a leak: Labour had not told her or the police. “I happen to be pretty resilient but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had some very low times over the past three years,” she said.
“I’ve managed to come out on the other side. There are other [party members] for whom this has taken an unimaginable toll; they’re unable to work, or suffer in their relationships.”
The report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) concluded that Labour could have tackled antisemitism “if the leadership had chosen to do so”. The EHRC served the party with an unlawful act notice, requiring it to tackle the failings. Corbyn, however, insisted that the level of antisemitism had been “exaggerated”, a statement that led to his suspension.
“What was required was a wholesome apology, not another moment when he has chosen to obfuscate and not take that responsibility. This wasn’t just one event — this is a sea of incidents and processes and the culture,” Berger said.
“He and the people around him will not take responsibility and see that they caused this: by the words he said, the lack of action and by not speaking out. He and his supporters can see this only through the prism that ‘this has all been done for political reasons’, rather than acknowledging the facts.”
Berger, 39, believes Corbyn is antisemitic: “Once is a mistake, twice careless; more than that and you are antisemitic. You can’t profess not to be and engage in antisemitic actions. If you seek to deny the experience of victims of racism, you are complicit.” She had been parliamentary chairwoman of the Jewish Labour Movement and last met Corbyn in late 2017: “He wanted to talk about everything [but] antisemitism…"
Corbyn could have chosen to respond to the report with dignity…maybe even an apology. That level of decency, though, is quite beyond the wretched man: an ideologue through and through – and a stupid one at that.
Update: a neat summary of the problem from Andrew Rawnsley:
Mr Corbyn’s vanity simply will not allow him to accept responsibility. Many things have been said about his character over the years, but one thing has not been said enough: he is a narcissist. He cannot deal with criticism because it challenges his self-conceited estimation of his own purity. He can never be the transgressor, he must always be the sufferer.
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