ITV's political editor Robert Peston speaks (on Twitter):
The Chief Rabbi’s intervention in the general election is without precedent. I find it heartbreaking, as a Jew, that the rabbi who by convention is seen as the figurehead of the Jewish community, feels compelled to write this about Labour and its leader. I am not making any kind of political statement here. What I am saying is our democracy has traditionally been a beacon of tolerance and understanding. The Chief Rabbi says our democracy has been poisoned. I hope his intervention is a catharsis that heals but I fear the worst. There is an enormous amount of predictable “whataboutery” in response the Chief Rabbi - “what about Islamaphobia in Tory party?” etc. Which is as if to say we don’t need to worry about alleged racism in one of the main parties if there is alleged racism in the other one...Really? If that is your argument, we really are in the handcart to hell.
Tolerance, understanding, catharsis and healing aren't much in evidence in the Corbynista-dominated replies. And they do think it's a political statement.
