Sir Keir Starmer has expressed his gratitude that Jews are able to trust the Labour Party again after he met community leaders today.
The opposition leader hailed Labour’s victory in Barnet during this year’s local elections as a “special milestone”.
Sir Keir was meeting representatives from the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and Community Security Trust (CST) alongside Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds and Sarah Owen, the Shadow Minister for Local Government and Faith.
Combatting antisemitism within Labour, the cost of living crisis and the safety of the Jewish community were all high on the agenda.
Attendees also discussed how elected officials can raise the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without inflaming community tensions in Britain.
It was a pleasure to meet with @BoardofDeputies, @JLC_uk, and @CST_UK to reaffirm my commitment to rebuilding Labour’s relationship with the Jewish community.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) December 1, 2022
My Labour government will stand up for the Jewish community and work to eradicate antisemitic hate crime. pic.twitter.com/sUeles66vN
Following the meeting, Sir Keir said: “When I became leader, my first promise was to rip out antisemitism from our party by its roots. I’m proud to say we’ve made huge strides in doing so, no better measure of which is earning back the trust of Jewish communities.
“Winning back Barnet council in May this year was a special milestone for me as it signified that Jewish people could feel able to put their faith back in our party.
“As I always am, I was pleased to meet with the Board of Deputies of British Jews today, as a key voice of the UK Jewish community and doing vital work raising awareness of important issues facing British Jews.
“Our relationship and continued open dialogue is important to me, for our party and our path to forming the next government. I want to do that working alongside Jewish communities and look forward to working with organisations like the Board of Deputies of British Jews to achieve it.”
Writing on Twitter, CST chief executive Mark Gardner said he was glad to say the meeting went “somewhat better than the last time I met a leader of the Labour Party”.
Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl said: “I was pleased to lead a communal delegation to meet the Leader of the Opposition and discuss key topics of interest to British Jews.
“These included the security of our community, the ongoing fight against antisemitism (both internal to the Party as well as the country as a whole), the strong connection we have to Israel and our concern to ensure fair treatment of refugees.
“We also discussed how the rising cost of living has affected the Jewish community, and potential ways in which parties can work together across the divide to help alleviate some of that pressure.
“I thank Keir Starmer and my colleagues at the JLC and CST for a successful meeting, and look forward to continuing these conversations in the coming period.”
JLC chair Keith Black said: “We are grateful to Sir Keir for making the time to meet. The change in the Labour Party is evident and strong progress has been made over recent years.
“We have always said that we could only judge the Labour Party on its actions in tackling antisemitism, and to date we have seen strong action to match the strong words.
“We hope that this is the beginning of a regular series of engagements with the Labour leadership and look forward to continuing our conversation for the benefit of our members and wider community.”
