Gordon Nardell, who is Jewish, was recently announced as Labour’s new in-house counsel.
In light of the newly emerged revelations about Nardell’s dubious connections, Luciana Berger, a Labour party MP of Jewish origin, said that she trusted Labour’s handling of the anti-Semitism issue.
In a message to the Jewish Labour Movement, the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, admitted that Labour’s problems with anti-Semitism had worsened over the past year and that he was “ashamed” to see anti-Semitism “ignored, or minimized, or excused” by some fellow party members.
In October of last year, Gordon Nardell reportedly described as “anti-Labour nonsense” a motion discussed at a local party meeting which condemned the NEC’s failure to expel former London mayor, Ken Livingstone.
Livingston, who is a close ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, quit the party after a two-year investigation into repeated assertions that Hitler supported Zionism.
According to a report published earlier this month by David Collier, a blogger and researcher, Nardell has been praised by Elleanne Green, the founder of the controversial Palestine Live Facebook group.
He also appears to have '“liked'” a post which claims that the Jewish Labor Movement’s aim “remains to prevent Jewish members and others criticizing Israeli policies.”
READ MORE: 'Anti-Semitism Isn't Prevalent in Labour', But Present in UK Society — Activist
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticized for his perceived inaction on anti-Semitism within the party ranks, which prompted an escalating row between his critics and supporters and culminated in a protest rally outside Parliament in March.
Responding to the mounting criticism, Jeremy Corbyn said that he would not "tolerate any form of anti-Semitism that exists in or around our party and movement."
He acknowledged that anti-Semitic attitudes had "surfaced more often in [Labour's] ranks in recent years" and emphasized the need for a "deeper understanding of what constitutes anti-Semitism."
