Anti-Semitism, Jeremy Corbyn and truth behind election record of Labour’s South Yorkshire mayoral candidate – Yorkshire Post Letters

UNDER the banner headline “I could not back Corbyn because of anti-Semitism” (The Yorkshire Post, February 26), you featured an interview with Oliver Coppard, Labour candidate for Mayor of South Yorkshire.

Oliver Coppard on battling Nick Clegg, campaigning for Remain and opposing anti-semitism in Labour

Mr Coppard has my best wishes: Yorkshire needs all the Labour mayors it can get. And he has my sympathy over his previous political career, which seems to have stalled quite needlessly.

In the 2015 General Election he nearly ousted Nick Clegg in Sheffield Hallam, cutting his majority from 15,000 to 2,000: fantastic!

In 2017 he didn’t stand, having taken a new job: Labour won the seat. In 2018 he refused to stand in the next election, for the reason given in your headline: in 2019 Labour won the seat again.

I have no quarrel with those who stood, and won. But it seems a pity Mr Coppard withdrew over a misapprehension about Labour anti-Semitism.

What a pity he didn’t read the 2016 report by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee stating that “there exists no reliable, empirical evidence to support the notion that there is a higher prevalence of anti-Semitic attitudes within the Labour Party than any other political party”.

What a pity he didn’t see two YouGov polls in 2015 and 2017, indicating that during Jeremy Corbyn’s first two years as leader, anti-Semitic attitudes among Labour voters decreased by about eight percent.

What a pity it was only after his withdrawal that the true volume of unjustified complaints of Labour anti-Semitism came to light. Of 1,100 complaints made over 10 months in 2019-20, more than 200 lacked evidence; more than 400 didn’t even involve party members. Genuine complaints involved under one per cent of the membership.

Anyhow, now Oliver Coppard’s political career is back on track in a more local contest, I wish him every success. If I lived in South Yorkshire I’d certainly vote for him.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.