The UK Government has comprehensively mismanaged the Brexit process, but Labour has still managed to make the last month all about its own problems, engulfed by accusations of anti-semitism.
The accusations are fair - for a minority of individuals legitimate concerns about the Israeli Government have spilled over into completely unacceptable language that appears to show hostility to Jews.
Some of the social media postings by Labour members have been eye-wateringly bad. Christine Shawcroft’s opposition to the the suspension of a colleague who questioned the Holocaust was appalling.
However, sporadic rows turned into a crisis when it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn, in a Facebook post in 2012, had criticised the removal of an mural labelled anti-Semitic.
He was quick to offer his apologies - suggesting he had not looked at the mural closely - but it tied in to a wider narrative that senior Labour figures are grossly insensitive to the Jewish community.
Most of the offensive comments have emanated from London, but Scottish Labour should also be vigilant. We reveal today that no Labour MSP has attended a meeting of the cross-party group on “building bridges with Israel”, which helps combat anti-semitism.
Such an oversight is not a sign of anti-Jewish prejudice, but it does demonstrate that Labour MSPs have not been interested in a body for which other parties have found time.
Labour on both sides of the border should redouble their efforts to fight all forms of racism and listen to the pain of victims of anti-semitism.
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