The Washington Post has reported the details of a closed meeting between Mike Pompeo, Trump’s Secretary of State, and Jewish leaders in the USA.
Pompeo was asked, if Corbyn is elected “would you be willing to work with us to take on actions if life becomes very difficult for Jews in the UK?”
Pompeo responded: “It could be that Mr. Corbyn manages to run the gauntlet and get elected. It’s possible. You should know, we won’t wait for him to do those things to begin to push back. We will do our level best. It’s too risky and too important and too hard once it’s already happened.”
His comments drew “fervent applause from attendees”, according to accounts.
Labour reacted by saying that “President Trump and his officials’ attempts to decide who will be Britain’s next Prime Minister are an entirely unacceptable interference in the UK’s democracy.” The spokesperson added that the Party was “fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and is implacably opposed to antisemitism in any form”.
The concerns Pompeo responded to are not really about antisemitism, real or alleged, within the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn has been a longstanding supporter of Palestinian rights, it is true He is not antisemitic but has been rightly critical of Israeli government policy.
But his real ‘sin’ is to be a socialist. Pompeo has made it quite clear that democracy in Britain is dispensable if it even threatens the established order. Pompeo does not spell out what actions the US will take to stop a Corbyn-led government. But the threat is real and should be taken seriously by all Labour supporters.
America has a long history of interfering against radical government all over the world. The ousting and murder of Salvador Allende’s socialist government in Chile in favour of the fascist torturer General Pinochet is one outstanding example. We have been warned
