British Jews protesting in London against antisemitism in the Labour Party. Photo: www.antisemitism.uk.

The UK’s third-largest political party, the Liberal Democrats, has launched an internal investigation into antisemitism after one of its spokespeople described the antisemitic scandals in the Labour Party as “fake.”

Jonathan Coulter — a former editor of the Liberal Democrats Friends of Palestine newsletter — was a speaker at the December 12 launch of an organization called the Campaign for Free Speech, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported on Tuesday.

During his remarks, Coulter claimed the “fake antisemitism campaign against Labour is the worst single episode of misinformation I have ever witnessed.”

Declaring he had been a member of the Liberal Democrats for five-and-a-half years, Coulter claimed that since 2015 the mainstream media had “put out a uniform wall-to-wall narrative” on Labour’s antisemitism issue “and failed to report evidence that disputes it.”

Coulter, who is regularly quoted as the spokesperson for the party’s chapter in Bromley, near London, then accused the UK’s national broadcaster, the BBC, of willfully repeating false accusations against Labour.

“It is a surreal situation, where the BBC produces a documentary about Chinese treatment of Uighurs, called ‘How to Brainwash a Million People,’ while itself contributing to the brainwashing of tens of millions of British people, by more subtle means, in the run-up to the 2019 General Election,” Coulter charged.

Coulter then praised the Campaign For Free Speech’s “unapologetic approach in dealing with antisemitism smears, and contrast this to supporters of Palestinian rights who often appease the pro-Israel lobby in one way or another — sugaring the pill, hiding the truth, always talking about sensitivities, hoping to gain acceptance with the media, political parties or whatever.”

Asked to comment on Coulter’s speech, a Liberal Democrats spokesperson told The Jewish Chronicle: “The party has received a complaint and in line with our processes an independent investigation has been opened.”