Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy CorbynReuters

A veteran MP for the British Labour party lamented Jeremy Corbyn’s rise within her party, as well as the growth of anti-Semitism in Labour, adding that she ‘understood’ why many British Jews would fear a Corbyn government to the point of leaving the UK if he were elected prime minister.

MP Louise Ellman, who has represented Liverpool Riverside in the UK Parliament for the past 22 years as a member of Labour, spoke at the annual Labour Friends of Israel reception at the party’s conference in Brighton this week.

Ellman, who is herself a member of the UK’s Jewish community, told participants that she had “never dreamed” her party would be led by “a man who would call Hezbollah and Hamas ‘friends’,”The Jewish Chronicle reported.

“Like many of you, I have viewed with horror the rise of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and the growth of an obsessive, irrational hatred towards the State of Israel,” continued Ellman.

Ellman also addressed concerns within the Jewish community in Britain that should Corbyn be elected prime minister, the rise in anti-Semitism in the UK could worsen, and prompt a mass exodus of Jews from the country.

A September 2018 poll by the Survation polling agency on behalf of The Jewish Chronicle found that 38.55% of British Jews would seriously consider leaving the UK if Corbyn became Prime Minister, with 85.9% saying they believed Corbyn is anti-Semitic.

“When I had the honor to become an MP on the day Labour returned to government 22 years ago, I never believed we would see the day when many British Jews would so fear our leader, that they would seriously consider leaving the country if he entered Downing Street,” continued Ellman.

“I not only understand those fears. I share those fears.”