Reform concerns
British Jews have spent the past decade insisting, rightly, that antisemitism must be rooted out wherever it appears. That principle cannot be quietly set aside when it comes from the political right.
It is therefore troubling to see reports that Reform UK is launching Jewish and pro-Israel groups with the support of members of the Jewish community. Polling suggests a notable minority of British Jews are open to Reform UK, often because of its rhetoric on immigration or its strong public support for Israel. But support for Israel is not, in itself, a guarantee of understanding or safeguarding Jewish concerns.
Reform UK sits within a wider right-wing populist current in which surface friendliness towards Jews or Israel often coexists with hostility towards minorities in general. It is also a political space in which calls to ban religious slaughter are common among supporters – a reminder of how quickly Jewish religious life can become collateral damage in so-called culture wars.
The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, faces allegations of racism and antisemitism as a teenager, including accounts from multiple former school contemporaries, at least one of them Jewish, describing sustained antisemitic bullying. These accounts come from a substantial number of former pupils and staff. What stands out is the absence from Farage of any real apology, remorse, or reflection on what antisemitism actually feels like to Jews.
Many Jews rightly spoke out about antisemitism on the left during the Corbyn era. The same should apply here. Movements and politicians that are hostile to minorities but make conditional or convenient exceptions for Jews or for Israel are not reliable allies.
We are a community shaped by history. Are we really so quick to forget it?
Jonathan Samuel
London NW4
Publishing plea
There have been several articles in the JC, the most recent by Marnie Riches ( How the publishing industry ‘awoke’ – and turned on the Jews’ Jewish Chronicle January 30 ) relating the difficulties experienced by Jewish authors trying to get their work published. However the JC itself refuses to review any books that are self-published even if those Jewish authors have other published work (and in some cases been long listed for literary prizes). For some authors, self-publishing is now the only option in the present climate. I’m sure your reviewers have the experience to be able to distinguish between vanity publishing and those of Jewish writers merely unable to get their books published… particularly when those authors have other published work in their portfolio. I would urge you to stand behind your commitment to Jewish authors and review their books too.
Susan Trotter
Swansea
Jewish roots
Barnardo’s first female chairman, Dame Gillian Mary Millicent Wagner, who passed away on December 1, at the age of 98, was of interesting Jewish ancestry.
The eldest of the five children of Major Henry Graham of the Grenadier Guards, she was, through her mother, Margaret Beatrice Lopes, daughter of the first Baron Roborough, and a direct descendant of the notorious Sir Massey Lopes, who was found guilty of buying votes for election to Parliament, fined and imprisoned in Exeter, but continued to an illustrious public career.
After her marriage to Sir Anthony Wagner in 1953, and while chairman of Barnados, she published a critical biography of Dr. Barnardo, who was of Jewish descent. Taking the helm of the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, she wrote a more sympathetic biography of the founder of her organisation. In her book, Children of the Empire, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982) she wrote about children who were sent overseas, and in The Chocolate Conscience,(Chatto & Windus 1987) she wrote about Quaker families. Her last book was based on the writings of her own great grandmother.
Dame Gillian chaired an important review of residential care, known as the Wagner Committee, recommending a unified national system, and was appointed an OBE, followed by Dame of the British Empire in 1994. She was related to the family of Queen Camilla’s son-in-law, Harry Lopes, who is also a direct descendant of Sir Massey.
Doreen Berger
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.