Former NEC-er Rahman outs Labour’s antisemitism smear vs Green candidate
[labour]
Mish Rahman is a former – and longstanding – member of the national executive committee (NEC) of the Labour party. He is now a member of the Greens. And he has outed the hypocrisy and racism of Labour’s desperate attempt to smear a London Green candidate as antisemitic.
Labour is clearly still stung by its [humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election][1] and terrified of the outcome of [May 2026’s local elections][2]. It is just as clearly still desperate to propagate the [Israel lobby’s attacks on the Greens][3] for opposing Israel’s genocide. Hence the hollow arrogance of Lewisham mayor Brenda Dacre’s blatantly electioneering letter to Green leader Zack Polanski demanding the removal of Forest Hill candidate Bernard Mani:
Dacre’s pretext for her demand is that he has apparently questioned Israel’s atrocity narrative concerning 7 October 2023. The fact that the narrative has already been completely debunked seems to have escaped her notice – or at least her computer keyboard.
But according to Rahman, who has extensive experience of Dacre when she was a Labour party functionary, her ability to ignore facts has previously protected racists, rather than attack opponents of genocide. In a post on X, he recounted one such experience:
> I chaired a disciplinary panel with Brenda Dacres and one other white bloke.
>
> We interviewed a racist who called a Muslim female Cllr Jezbollah in public – refused to apologise and said he stands by his comments.
>
> Brenda and Merton voted to reinstate him outvoting me 2-1 [https://t.co/VBzn7MMaFp][4]
>
> — Mish Rahman (@mish_rahman) [April 9, 2026][5]
## Labour and bigotry
Appalling. But Dacre is anything but an anomaly in her party, which has a [long record][6] of anti-Black, anti-Muslim, and anti-Roma racism.
The Labour Muslim Network published a [damning report on the rampant Islamophobia among the Labour right][7]. Keir Starmer and his sidekick David Evans promised to immediately implement all the LMN report’s recommendations, but two *years* later LMN had to [report that the situation continued unabated and was so serious that most Muslim party members had no confidence in Starmer][8] or his interest in tackling the issue. Three years later still, and Starmer is [no better][9].
Anti-Black racism, meanwhile, has run riot among the Labour right, with whole swathes of Black councillors deselected – in at least one case, involving the [removal of *every* Black councillor in a London borough][10]. Unlike the Abbott suspension, the issue was ignored by the so-called ‘mainstream’ media. In 2026, Starmer’s party is [busy trying to normalise it][11] across UK society.
And MPs who made or [propagated][12] grossly racist comments against Gypsy Roma people went unpunished by the party and were even appointed to [Starmer’s front bench][13]. Those who [hound left-wing Muslim and Black MP women MPs][14], by contrast, are enabled and protected.
So rampant was the issue and so uninterested was the leadership in doing anything about it that in 2021, [Black party members went on campaign ‘strike’ in protest][15] – and in 2022, [black MPs and activists protested publicly against the leadership’s complete inaction][16] over the racist abuses highlighted in the Forde report.
Even on the issue of antisemitism, Starmer and co are selective: while left-wingers [including many Jews][17] are thrown out of the party for legitimate criticism of Israel or even for wanting to discuss the so-called ‘IHRA working definition’, right-wingers who have [made clearly antisemitic statements][18] have been allowed to remain on the front bench or even [promoted][19].
Polanski’s [record of tackling Israel lobby smears head on][20] suggests that he will tell – may already have told – the desperate Labour mayor to stick her demands somewhere sunlight doesn’t reach. He certainly should.
*Featured image via the Canary*
By [Skwawkbox][21]
[1]: https://www.thecanary.co/opinion/2026/03/01/labour-death-rattle/
[2]: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/your-election-information
[3]: https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/02/26/israel-spouts-debunked-lies/
[4]: https://t.co/VBzn7MMaFp
[5]: https://twitter.com/mish_rahman/status/2042181747736019076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6]: https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/03/22/laura-kuenssberg-why-would/
[7]: https://skwawkbox.org/2020/11/14/lmn-report-exposes-rife-islamophobia-among-labour-right/
[8]: https://skwawkbox.org/2022/03/15/after-2-years-of-inaction-by-labour-7-out-of-10-muslims-dont-trust-starmer-to-tackle-islamophobia/
[9]: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/11/05/islamophobia-labour-starmer/
[10]: https://skwawkbox.org/2018/06/11/excl-enfield-caliskan-scandal-grows-all-black-councillors-were-deselected/
[11]: https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2026/03/10/labours-normalisation-of-racism/
[12]: https://skwawkbox.org/2021/04/02/labour-shadow-equalities-minister-posts-picture-handing-out-anti-grt-campaign-leaflet/
[13]: https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/news/2020/07/labour-shadow-minister-apologises-inappropriate-and-careless-statement-about
[14]: https://skwawkbox.org/2022/10/11/starmer-shredded-for-mental-health-day-tweet-while-letting-vulnerable-women-be-hounded/
[15]: https://skwawkbox.org/2021/01/23/exclusive-black-labour-members-go-on-strike-no-campaigning-in-2021-for-mps-who-look-other-way-on-anti-black-racism/
[16]: https://skwawkbox.org/2022/09/02/black-politicians-to-protest-starmers-inaction-over-forde-exposed-racism-tonight-at-5pm/
[17]: https://skwawkbox.org/2021/08/12/anatomy-of-labours-purge-of-jews-the-68yo-palestinian-solidarity-and-peace-activist/
[18]: https://skwawkbox.org/2020/08/02/yet-another-right-wing-mp-forced-to-apologise-after-tweets-linking-jewish-figures-with-israeli-money-where-is-starmers-zero-tolerance/
[19]: https://skwawkbox.org/2020/07/06/breaking-starmer-tells-reed-no-action-over-complaints-re-reeds-puppet-master-and-israeli-billionaire-tweets-as-reed-deletes-tweet-praising-action-vs-long-bailey/
[20]: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/01/15/zack-polanski-blasts-board/
[21]: https://www.thecanary.co/author/skwawkbox/
https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/04/10/labour-green-smear/
