The former Labour Party Chair and his fight against antisemitism

He became Tonbridge and Malling constituency Labour Party (CLP) chair in 2017. A year later, he resigned from the CLP position. Philipps left because he could not stand to be associated with the antisemitism within the party.

 

He says: “I can’t stay and endorse this party.” Philipps is now a spokesman for Labour against Antisemitism (LAAS) He explains that leaving was not a difficult decision to make: “I think I’d taken on the role with an overoptimistic idea about how difficult it would be to separate one piece of work from the other.”

 

He insists he “wasn’t a massive Corbynsceptic” but “when it got to the 2016 leadership election, by that point I lost faith and I was involved in the Owen Smith campaign”. Smith challenged Corbyn for the leadership after the latter lost a no confidence vote in the aftermath of the EU referendum. Corbyn would win like he had a year previously.

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the campaign, Philipps saw antisemitic content posted online which led to him getting involved with LAAS. He says the group had a “sense that what was happening just had to be challenged in some way, it was through meeting a lot of Jewish members that my awareness about that side of things sort of developed.” LAAS has reported thousands of members to the party, which Philipps describes as “quite a torturous process”.

 

The group must provide the context and evidence that those complained about are Labour members, which CLP they belong to, and which Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guideline is believed to have been breached. Philipps says a particularly “difficult” LAAS was investigating the Palestine Live Facebook group, of which Corbyn and Labour MP Clive Lewis were members. Members of the group denied the Holocaust, alleged Israeli involvement in the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, as well as the training of Islamic State fighters and shared Jewish banker conspiracy theories.

 

Philipps says it was this content which made the work difficult for members of LAAS as they looked at posts and filed reports with Labour compliance. In 2018, several Labour members were suspended for membership in the group. Corbyn left in 2015 as has Lewis, both deny seeing antisemitic posts. Philipps says his involvement in LAAS has been a learning experience, after taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he notes: “I grew up in North Wales.

​

"I didn’t have any Jewish friends in school, went to university, didn’t have any Jewish friends. So, to open my eyes about the history of antisemitism and how it’s structured in society and how it mutates and sort of quietens down for a while and then re-emerges has been fascinating and scary but incredibly interesting.” Philipps has been accused of abusing his position as a CLP chair and of making libellous claims regarding antisemitism, the executive committee of his CLP said LAAS had been accused of “trolling” party members.

 

Philipps was accused in an email of undermining both the central party and the CLP. He says such accusations are not the ones that grate him: “Those kinds of things come from enemies, rather than allies, we’re campaigners against antisemitism, of course, we’re going to be accused of having ulterior motives, being in the pay of the Israeli government or part of an international Zionist conspiracy.”

 

But, after looking down at the table, he adds: “Those aren’t the people that cause you upset and distress, the more difficult attacks come from people who are supposed to be on our own side, that’s where the upset really comes from.” Despite this, Philipps says the group will continue to report on examples of antisemitism they find and call for moderates within the party to do more to alleviate the issue. Speaking again after the December 2019 general election, Philipps said Labour’s defeat came as a relief for those concerned with antisemitism and praised some Labour moderates for discussing their concerns but added: “I think there almost needs to be a truth and reconciliation process, before Labour can move on from this, and that would include Labour moderates as much as anyone else.”

 

As for himself re-joining the party, Philipps says: “I’ve never regretted my decision. I don’t think I’ll ever be actively involved in Labour politics again.”

​

Labour and Corbyn have denied accusations of antisemitism and insisted they stand against racism.