Jewish people dont feel the UK is a safe place to bring up their children and some are already planning to leave, former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks has said.
Lord Sacks, a crossbench peer, says British jews are considering leaving the country if Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ever becomes Prime Minister.
Corbyn must recant and repent over his remarks on Zionism, Lord Sacks said, or he risked engulfing the UK in the flames of hatred.
Jewish families fear the Labour leader could unleash a new wave of anti-Semitism, the rabbi warned.
He told BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show: When people hear the kind of language that has been coming out of Labour, thats been brought to the surface among Jeremy Corbyns earlier speeches, they cannot but feel an existential threat.
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He added: Jews have been in Britain since 1656, I know of no other occasion in these 362 years when Jews – the majority of our community – are asking “is this country safe to bring up our children”.
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Now, this is very, very worrying.
Anyone who uses the term Zionist loosely, without great care, is in danger of engulfing Britain in the kind of flames of hatred that have reappeared throughout Europe, and is massively irresponsible.
There is danger that Jeremy Corbyn may one day be prime minister, he is the leader of Her Majestys opposition, and Im afraid that until he expresses clear remorse for what he has said and what his party has done to its Jewish sympathisers as well as its Jewish MPs, then he is as great a danger as Enoch Powell was.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said comparisons between Corbyn and Enoch Powell were just wrong.
He told the BBC: Jeremy has made it absolutely clear we will protect Jewish members of our party from any form of abuse and anti-Semitism.
I just say to Lord Sacks “youve got it wrong, come and talk to us”.
Labours ruling National Executive Committee will meet this week to decide whether or not to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism in full.
This weekend, Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a Jewish Labour Movement conference that the definition must be adopted unanimously, unequivocally and immediately.
Mr McDonnell said: I think all sides will be satisfied with the proposals that will be discussed.
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I think acceptance overall, and I think also the commitment to freedom of speech, and yes, a recognition of the rights of Palestinians.
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From what Ive heard, it will be resolved, and there will be a balance about acceptance, as people want, but also, exactly about what others have said as well – Lord Sacks himself – that freedom of speech is important as well.
The ability to criticise policies that you disagree with, but you do it in terms which are acceptable.
Mr McDonnell said he wanted Frank Field to come back into the fold after resigning the Labour whip over the anti-Semitism row.
It comes as senior Labour figure Dame Margaret Hodge launched a fresh attack on Corbyn, claiming the leadership has a hatred of Jews.
The former minister told the Sunday Times: All (the leadership) can think about is their internal Labour party and their hatred of Jews.
Jeremy has allowed anti-Semitism and racism to run rife. He needs to renounce much of what he did.
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