Britain would be a lesser country without Jews, Sir Eric Pickles has said in an attack on the “casual acceptance” of antisemitic tropes in the UK.
Sir Eric, the government’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, made the comments in response to a study published in September by Jewish Policy Research which found that about 30 per cent of the adult British population showed “antisemitic attitudes at different intensities”.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post on Thursday, he said: “We need to address the casual acceptance of some of the old (antisemitic) tropes. I feel strongly about this because Judaism is a fundamental part of the British identity.
“If we were to see, as France has seen, Jews starting to leave the country, we would be diminished – we wouldn’t be Britain anymore. It’s about what makes Britain tick – and without Jewish people, Britain would not tick properly.”
