British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn’s path to the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street is not proving as smooth as the veteran socialist had hoped.
In June, with membership of his Labour Party on the rise, Prime Minister Theresa May bogged down in Brexit talks and her Conservative Party in chaos after an ill-judged snap election, Corbyn said he could be in office by Christmas.
Since then, May’s team has gained confidence thanks to a breakthrough in talks to leave the European Union and broad international support for her tough stance against Moscow over a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain.
By contrast, the uneasy truce struck when May was on the ropes between Corbyn’s left-wing supporters and centrist Labour lawmakers at odds with his Socialist beliefs has broken.
In the space of a few weeks, rows over Russia, Europe and anti-Semitism, three divisive issues that have dogged Corbyn throughout his long career on the left of British politics, have erupted within Labour.
First, the 68-year-old veteran peace campaigner came under fire from some Labour lawmakers for not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with May in blaming Russia directly for the poisoning – instead saying Moscow’s culpability needed to be proven before rushing into a new Cold War.
Last week, Corbyn, instinctively wary of the EU which many leftists see as a capitalist club, was criticised by some prominent Labour lawmakers for sacking Owen Smith, a member of the party’s “shadow cabinet”, which mirrors the government.
Smith had said there should be a second referendum on leaving the European Union as Brexit would damage the economy and could threaten peace in Northern Ireland.
This week, British Jewish groups protested against Corbyn outside parliament accusing the Labour leader, a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights and critic of Israel, of failing to tackle anti-Semitism within Labour ranks.
“The question which is most alarming is the question of the Jewish protest against the Labour Party,” Labour activist and Brexit campaigner Brendan Chilton told Reuters.
“This is a big issue because if the Labour Party can’t be seen to be standing up for minority groups … then you really have to ask what the Labour Party is for.”
