Keir Starmer has been praised by Jewish leaders for achieving “in four days more than his predecessor in four years” after a video conference to address Labour antisemitism. The new Labour leader, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday, outlined steps to tackle the issue, including requesting all outstanding investigations be on his desk by the end of the week.
Following the meeting with Starmer and deputy Angela Rayner, representatives from the Board of British Jews, Jewish Leadership Council, Community Security Trust, and Jewish Labour Movement issued a joint statement. They said: “While we would have fully understood the need to focus entirely on coronavirus at this time, Keir Starmer has already achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years in addressing antisemitism within the Labour party.”
The statement added: “As we discussed with Keir and Angela, we want to have a normal relationship with Labour whereby we can discuss the full range of issues affecting our community... and not just antisemitism. 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.”
Starmer thanked the representatives for meeting him “not least so close to Passover” and repeated his apology for Labour’s failure on antisemitism. He committed to an independent complaints process, full cooperation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry, and training for all Labour staff. The party remains under investigation by the EHRC over allegations of institutional antisemitism.
