Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has acknowledged that “changing the culture” in his party is “the hardest task of the lot” — but also asked both supporters and critics to accept that making such a change will take time. 

In a wide-ranging discussion with the co-chair of Limmud’s trust board Carolyn Bogush, Sir Keir said how “disappointed” he was with Jeremy Corbyn’s response on the day of publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report; backed the idea of votes for 16-year-olds; hoped for profound international change, not least in the Middle East, with the advent of the Biden administration in America; and said that on kicking out antisemitism, it was necessary to be “consistent and persistent”. 

Removing antisemitism from Labour, he said, “says something fundamental about what the party is, and what I am”. In order for the party to be considered a “welcoming place” for people of all faiths and backgrounds, he said, there had to be leadership from the top and clarity about the direction of the party. “You can change the rules, the processes, but changing the culture is much more difficult”, he said. 

And, in what might be construed as a coded rap across the knuckles to his predecessors, Sir Keir advised: “Don’t try to defend a bad decision”. Sometimes, he believed, “people defer too much and don’t say, you’ve got it wrong… we will make mistakes, and we need to be prodded and told when we do. The power of saying, I got that wrong, is huge”. 

Asked specifically about the often hostile atmosphere in local CLPs (constituency Labour parties), Sir Keir emphasised the “need to take action where there are examples” of hostility to Jewish members.  

“We have been taking action in the last few months, but that is a short-term solution: it doesn’t change things in the way they need to be changed. We need to drive through that culture change of respect and tolerance, but we all need to understand that.  

I also want to get to a stage where we can celebrate the history of difference in a different way, a celebration of Jewish history and traditions where people can discuss things in an atmosphere that isn’t related to the passing of a particular motion”. 

On a personal note, the Labour leader, who said he had been brought up “loosely Church of England”, said his wife’s father was from a Polish Jewish family, while her mother, who died earlier this year, had converted to Judaism. The Starmer family “did Friday night prayers” and he enjoyed telling their children about their Jewish heritage. 

One of the few good things to come out of the pandemic, he believed, was a national return to faith: “people have looked out for each other”, he said, citing work done on Mitzvah Day by South Hampstead Synagogue. 

On the Middle East, Sir Keir said he believed in the two-state solution and not in the Trump plan. He hoped that the Biden administration would “open up the space for a rational tolerant dialogue that we haven’t been able to have in recent years.”  

He was “not a fan” of a ban on imports [from the West Bank], but added that “where there are breaches of international law, there need to be consequences. What I am saying is, let’s work with the Biden administration and the change in America”. 

Perhaps surprisingly, Sir Keir revealed himself as having “a degree of admiration for Theresa May. She knew what her moral framework was. I’m not sure I could say the same of the current prime minister”. 

On the impact of the EHRC report on antisemitism in the Labour Party, Sir Keir described “a sense of grief” about what had happened.  

However, he said, when he became leader in April 2020, he had worked closely with the commission and so knew broadly what the report was likely to contain.  

He felt it could be used “as an opportunity to move forward, an opportunity to let me lead from the front. Let me apologise unreservedly on behalf of the Labour Party, and let me set out what we’re going to do about it”.  

Accordingly, he said, he had been “so disappointed” with Jeremy Corbyn’s remarks on the day of the report’s publication, because they “fundamentally cut across all that work”. 

Sir Keir concluded his Limmud appearance with a rallying cry to young people to get involved in political life — “and that’s why I strongly believe in votes at 16. If you want to engage people of 17 or 18, give them a vote”. 

Limmud organisers estimated as many as 2,500 people watched the interview on Zoom and YouTube.