Jeremy Corbyn has made formal complaints to broadcast regulator Ofcom against Sky News and ITV’s Good Morning Britain after two separate programmes suggested he was responsible for the rise of antisemitism in Britain, during coverage of the Golders Green terror attack. His office has called the claims “outrageous, absurd and utterly baseless” and has requested retractions and apologies from both broadcasters.
The complaints centre on two specific broadcast moments that occurred within 24 hours of each other during coverage of the attack in which two Jewish men were stabbed in north London on 29 April.
What was said
The first incident occurred on Sky News on 29 April, when presenter Cathy Newman said to Labour peer Thangam Debbonaire during a discussion on antisemitism: “The rot really started under the previous Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, didn’t it, in this country?”
The second occurred the following day on GMB, when former Conservative minister and now Reform UK member Nadine Dorries said: “This door to antisemitism was opened by former leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn.” Later in the same programme, host Kate Garraway stated that “Mr Corbyn has always denied allegations of antisemitism” – a caveat that Corbyn’s office has acknowledged but says does not go far enough.
Neither Sky News nor GMB contacted Corbyn, his spokesperson or his office before broadcasting the claims, according to Corbyn’s team.
Corbyn’s response
A spokesperson for Corbyn told Novara Media that he had written to Sky describing Newman’s question as an “outrageous, absurd and utterly baseless claim that is deeply harmful to Mr Corbyn’s reputation.”
The spokesperson said the implication that antisemitism “started” under Corbyn’s Labour leadership in 2015 was “disgraceful” because it “downplays the historic reality of antisemitism in Britain and disregards thousands of victims who have been subject to antisemitic hatred for decades.”
On the GMB claim from Dorries, the spokesperson said: “This claim is quite obviously absurd, and has no basis in fact whatsoever. The show has a duty to challenge guests when they make these baseless claims. The hosts have a duty to ask them to provide evidence for their claims and, when that evidence is not provided, to withdraw them.”
The Ofcom basis for the complaint
Corbyn’s complaints are grounded in Section 7 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code, which stipulates that broadcasters must “avoid unjust or unfair treatment of individuals or organisations in programmes” and demands that “where it is appropriate to represent the views of a person or organisation that is not participating in the programme, this must be done in a fair manner.”
Section 7 also states that a programme alleging wrongdoing, incompetence, or making other significant allegations “should normally give those concerned an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond.” Corbyn did not participate in either programme and was not contacted before the claims were made.
Ofcom has the power to issue sanctions against broadcasters who consistently breach its code, including shortening, suspending or revoking broadcast licences. GMB is the most complained-about TV programme in Britain over the last five years, generating over 173,000 complaints in 2021 alone.
What the Forde Report actually found
The specific claim that antisemitism in Britain “started” or was “opened” by Corbyn’s leadership is historically illiterate – antisemitism in Britain predates Jeremy Corbyn’s political career by centuries. The more specific claim – that antisemitism within the Labour Party worsened significantly under his leadership – was the subject of a formal independent inquiry: the Forde Report, published in 2022.
The Forde Report, conducted by Martin Forde KC, did find evidence of antisemitism within the Labour Party. But it also found that the issue had been weaponised against Corbyn by his opponents within the party, concluding that senior Labour staff displayed “at times discriminatory attitudes” toward Corbyn and his supporters, that there was a “hierarchy of racism” within the party which ignored Black and Asian members, and that the antisemitism issue had been weaponised for factional purposes.
That full and nuanced picture was not represented in either broadcast.
The broader media debate
James Schneider, a Jewish writer and Corbyn’s former communications director, welcomed the complaints. “I’m pleased Jeremy Corbyn is challenging a demonstrably false claim and political smear that does nothing to confront or reduce antisemitism,” he told Novara Media.
Schneider also addressed the wider pattern of how antisemitism has been discussed in the media during the Golders Green week, in which Green Party leader Zack Polanski – himself Jewish – was simultaneously accused of downplaying antisemitism and subjected to a Times cartoon his own party described as using antisemitic visual tropes.
“The mobilisation of real Jewish fear and pain against those who oppose British foreign policy and support Palestinian rights is cynical and dangerous,” Schneider said. “It does not protect Jews. It feeds the antisemitic idea that Jewish safety is inseparable from support for Israel’s crimes.”
The broadcasters’ response
ITV told Novara Media that on the Friday following Dorries’s appearance, host Kate Garraway stated on air: “On yesterday’s programme, one of our guests said that ‘the door to antisemitism was opened by Jeremy Corbyn.’ That’s a direct quote. We want to make clear that Mr Corbyn has always denied claims of antisemitism.”
Corbyn’s office acknowledged the correction but maintains the original broadcast fell below Ofcom’s standards regardless of the subsequent clarification.
Sky News had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Ofcom will now assess whether formal investigations are warranted. Both Sky News and GMB are regulated broadcasters obligated to meet the standards set out in the Broadcasting Code.
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