Express & Star comment: Corbyn needs actions not just words

On the one hand, the 68-year old politician has a chequered history in terms of his involvement in the Middle East and his notorious description of Hezbollah as “friends”.

He also skilfully uses the defence that he is not anti-Jewish, merely anti-Zionist.

But there is little doubt that his party, by his own acknowledgement, contains elements that not only permit anti-Jewish sentiment, but in some cases actually appear to be encouraging it.

It’s all very well planting yourself on the far left of the political spectrum to give your party a clear identity and direction and the nation a shuddering alternative to the status quo at the ballot box, but such re-positioning comes at the price of greater scrutiny of some of the elements within that party – and the results so far have not been good.

Moderate highly respected Labour MPs, not least Dudley North’s Ian Austin, have spoken out openly about what they see as the worrying undercurrent of anti-Semitism that is festering just beneath the surface of today’s Momentum-dominated Labour movement.

Let us not quibble over words – anti-Semitism is racism pure and simple and it just cannot be tolerated in any modern democracy.

Mr Corbyn now says that he will fight anti-Semitism to his dying day, But will he take that message to his friends in Hezbollah?

Will he now introduce stricter rules for Labour Party members that are still making anti-Semitic statements, particularly on social media?

Mr Corbyn says one thing and yet his support for the now notorious East End mural by a graffiti artist that portrayed Jewish bankers playing Monopoly on the back of naked slaves suggests that for all his warm words expressed in the Black Country yesterday his political convictions on the issue are relatively new found.

As with all politicians, actions will ultimately speak louder than words.