UK parliamentary group on British Jewry set to launch
British lawmakers are planning to create an all-party parliamentary group on British Jews in September.
By SAM SOKOLMatthew Offord 370(photo credit: matthewofford.com)
British lawmakers are planning to create an all-party parliamentary group on British Jews in September to order to “broaden connections between Parliament and the UK Jewish community,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews announced on Wednesday.APPGs are nonpartisan interest groups that do not enjoy official status, but do serve to raise issues of common concern to lawmakers and their constituents.The secretariat of the new group is to be the Board of Directors of British Jews, an umbrella organization that bills itself as the “the sole Jewish organization in the UK that is democratically representative of the Jewish community.”Conservative Party MP Matthew Offord, one of the organizers of the new caucus, said that “this is a very exciting development, which will strengthen links between parliamentarians and their Jewish constituents. I believe it is important for the British Jewish community, which has flourished for over 350 years, to have such a political forum at a national level.”According to the Board of Deputies, the caucus will “not seek to duplicate the existing work of excellent parliamentary initiatives on Israel or anti- Semitism, but work with them for the common good.”
