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Faith Minister calls for a meeting with Charedi leaders over ‘shameful’ Covid rule-breaking
Stamford Hill warned to expect action if any repetition of last week's wedding
January 28, 2021 11:46
Stamford Hill warned to expect action if any repetition of last week's wedding
January 28, 2021 11:46The government’s Faith Minister Lord Greenhalgh has called for a meeting with leaders of the Stamford Hill Charedi community in the wake of what he called “the shameful event” that took place last week.
Police investigations are continuing into who was responsible for a wedding attended by 150 people at the state-aided Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School, which was broken up by officers.
In his letter to the “Jewish Community of Stamford Hill”, Lord Greenhalgh said he wanted to meet leading members, with the help of Interlink - one of the major Charedi charities - the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations and Jewish Leadership Council chairman Jonathan Goldstein.
The meeting’s objective was “simple,” he stated. “It is to ensure that there is no prospect of this sort of event happening again during this national Covid-19 emergency.
"If it does, those responsible will be held accountable and should be under no illusion that action will follow which could involve enforcement measures by the police and local authority, and the attention of relevant agencies such as the Department for Education and the Charity Commission”.
As Faith Minister, he said he wanted to “continue to work with the community throughout this period, in particular as we look towards upcoming festivals including Purim and Pesach”.
He said he was “grateful to those who are complying with the Covid-secure regulations and guidance and want to reinforce the need for everyone to take these actions to protect the community as a whole”.
Under the current lockdown, weddings are only permitted in exceptional circumstances, such as if one partner is gravely ill, with only six people allowed to attend.
Before then, under the previous restrictions, a maximum of 15 had been allowed – a number designed to enable a minyan to be present in response to representations from the Chief Rabbi and others.