A former member of the Labour Party’s inner circle urges the public to vote for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Britain’s December 12 election, saying that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is “unfit” to lead the country due to anti-Semitism.
Ian Austin, one of former prime minister Gordon Brown’s closest allies, tells the BBC that the Labour Party has been poisoned by “anti-Jewish racism” under Corbyn’s leadership. Austin left the party in February over its handling of an anti-Semitism scandal.
Illustrative: UK Labour MP Ian Austin accuses party leader Jeremy Corbyn of anti-Semitism during a Commons debate on April 17, 2018. (Screen capture: YouTube)
“There’s only two people who can be prime minister on December 13 — Jeremy Corbyn or Boris Johnson,” Austin tells the BBC. “And I think Jeremy Corbyn is unfit to lead our country.”
Austin’s startling interview comes a day after deputy Labour leader Tom Watson, who has often clashed with Corbyn, announced he was stepping down. The two actions underscore the unease many Labour lawmakers have with Corbyn’s left-wing views, his leadership and his ambivalence over Britain’s ties to the European Union.
Since he took charge in 2015, Corbyn has moved Labour further to the left and away from the center ground staked out by former prime minister Tony Blair.
— AP
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