Jeremy Corbyn and Margaret Hodge should both remember the value of an apology

The past few weeks have seen many in the Labour Party express contrition, holding up their hands and admitting they could have done better on antisemitism in the past. But there appears to still be little resolution to the Margaret Hodge and Jeremy Corbyn incident: in short the Labour MP for Barking called the party leader an antisemite, then acted surprised when the party took action against her. But if there’s to be any resolution, both sides must take some responsibility.

The lack of action in fighting antisemitism in the past has resulted in distrust between large chunks of the Jewish community and Labour. A recent attempt to develop a party-wide code of conduct, including examples of antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), was well intentioned, but it left many in the Jewish community feeling undermined and ignored because it did not adopt all of the examples after little consultation. Corbyn has now directly addressed his supporters and warned them that if they continue to ignore antisemitism they don’t do so in his name. A proper consultation on the IHRA examples can hopefully now go ahead.

Margret Hodge, one hopes, must see that calling Corbyn an antisemite does the fight against bigotry no favours. Reports that she expressed regret to Labour’s Chief Whip about how she handled the situation suggested that this might have happened, although she disputes this conversation ever occurred. Antisemitism has a long and dark history of endangering the lives of Jewish people: to point the finger and use the label wrongly, even in a moment of frustration and exasperation, only undermines the all-too-real hatred when it is really there.

It’s understandable that some of Corbyn’s supporters are feeling upset by Hodge’s language and betrayed by disciplinary action against her being dropped – there would be an investigation after an incident like this in any other workplace. That said, the whips’ office could probably have handled this situation in the first place – a formal investigation was never needed. Both her words and the resulting action against her were a mistake. An apology on both fronts would go a long way.

And yes, it’s true that it wasn’t long ago that Hodge tabled a no-confidence vote against Corbyn, an example of the enduring hostility against the shadow opposition leader. There are those in Parliament who are opposed to Labour’s transition into the radically progressive force it has now become. But Labour is taking decisive action on antisemitism, and on this issue a line in the sand has to be drawn. Corbyn must see through plans to boot out bigots as fast as possible - that’s already happening; a long-term program of political education to wipe out prejudice in the party and outside of it needs to be developed as promised, and implemented right away. At the same time we must not let anyone, in Labour or otherwise, exploit antisemitism for their own political ends. That means an end to interventions such as Hodge’s which whip up frustrations but do little to tackle the problem head on.

While Corbyn has faced up to the fact there are some within Labour’s ranks who are antisemitic or blind to its manifestations, when it comes to Islamophobia within the Conservative Party Theresa May continues to pretend it simply isn't there. Labour now has a chance to lead the way in one of its core missions: fighting all forms of prejudice and bigotry, and oppose them in unity. Infighting does this no service at all: antiracism is far more important than factionalism.

It will be obvious if Labour doesn’t deliver on its pledges, or if some of Corbyn’s critics continue to sensationalise antisemitism without joining in efforts to tackle it. This means understanding there’ll be debates and disagreements on our political positions, but on this we all take each other in good faith. It will take efforts among all of Labour’s ranks to ensure that antisemitism, both in practice and in the headlines, is finally stamped out.