Starmer addressed Labour antisemitism more in days than Corbyn in years
In addition, he discussed having the Jewish Labour Movement train all party staff regarding sensitivity to antisemitism as soon as possible.
By LAHAV HARKOVJeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer attend a general election campaign meeting in Harlow, Britain November 5, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS / HANNAH MCKAY)
UK Jewish community representatives’ relations with new Labour leader Keir Starmer got off to a positive start in a video meeting on Tuesday.Starmer and deputy Labour Party head Angela Rayner held the meeting with representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Labour Movement.Following the meeting, Starmer thanked the organizations for holding the meeting so close to Passover, saying: “It was very important to me to seek to address the disgrace of antisemitism in our party as soon as possible."Over the last few years, we have failed the Jewish community on antisemitism. Labour is a proudly anti-racist party and, going forward, it will not be enough to 'pass the test' on antisemitism. We need to set new standards for best practice,” he said.Labour’s previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, failed to root out antisemitism within the party, and was accused of holding such views himself, as revelations came to light of his actions, such as sharing a platform with Holocaust deniers and laying a wreath on the graves of the terrorists who murdered Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics.Starmer committed to set up an independent complaints process and cooperate with the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into antisemitism in the Labour Party. He said he plans to ask for a weekly report on all outstanding cases of antisemitism. In addition, he discussed having the Jewish Labour Movement train all party staff in sensitivity to antisemitism as soon as possible.Starmer made similar commitments in a column published in The Jewish Chronicle on Tuesday."We have to be honest that [antisemitism] is a cultural problem, and only by listening and learning can we change that," he wrote. "The principle of the changes I want to see are clear: if you are antisemitic, you should not be in the Labour Party. No ifs, no buts."Starmer wrote that the measure of success of his efforts will be Jewish members returning to Labour.The Jewish communal delegation said in a statement that Starmer “has already achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years in addressing antisemitism within the Labour Party.”
The Jewish community seeks to have a “normal relationship” with Labour in which it can discuss a range of communal issues, like religious freedom, Jewish schools, poverty and Israel, and not just antisemitism, the organizations’ leaders said. "This has certainly been a good start. If the new Labour leadership continues in this way, we can work together to make the changes that will make Labour a proudly anti-racist party once again."On Sunday, Lisa Nandy, the former chairwoman of Labour Friends of Palestine, was named the party's new shadow foreign secretary.Nandy called in February for an arms embargo on Israel and supported the UN blacklist of companies working in settlements. She also spoke out strongly against antisemitism in her Labour leadership campaign and secured the endorsement of the Jewish Labour Movement.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
