Whatever your view of Sir Keir Starmer, he is clearly sincere in his view that he transformed Labour from a party which, under Jeremy Corbyn, was a magnet for antisemites to one which sought to expel them.
Indeed, that transformation was the very first thing he mentioned in his resignation speech this morning in Downing Street. He referred to how he “changed our party – ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence, and national security.”
You might well find the last three of those four claims somewhat difficult to agree with. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng's September 2022 mini-budget pushed the 30-year gilt yield to around 5 per cent. Under Rachel Reeves, that same 30-year yield passed the Truss-era peak in January 2025, and by March 2026 the 10-year gilt had pushed UK borrowing costs to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. And Starmer lost both his Defence Secretary and Armed Forces Minister over his handling of defence and national security.
But the first of his claims is broadly correct. When he took over as Labour leader, he made tackling the party’s welcome for antisemites a priority. It was the first thing he mentioned after his election as leader. And he was largely successful, with many of those who were either expelled or who left because they no longer found Labour so welcoming switching to the Greens, which has now become the political home for Jew hate.
But when it comes to antisemitism, Starmer’s time as leader divides starkly into two periods: in opposition, when he tackled it, and in power – when he unleashed it. Because for all that he did in tackling antisemitism within Labour in opposition, in power he led a government which has given more succour to antisemites than any government since the founding of the state of Israel.
Everything changed after the 2024 election. Suddenly Labour MPs were confronted with a rising force which they had previously not had to worry about: sectarian Muslim politics.
Most attention on this has focused on the four so-called “Gaza Independent” MPs but results in other constituencies were equally concerning for Labour. In Ilford North, Wes Streeting held on by 528 votes; in Bethnal Green Rushanara Ali clung on narrowly; and in Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips scraped home by 693 votes. Labour’s vote fell by over 14 per cent from 2019 in those constituencies where the Muslim population was above 15 per cent. With 37 constituencies having a Muslim population over 20 per cent and a further 73 having between 10 and 20 per cent Muslims, the threat to Labour MP was and remains real.
Whatever else may lie behind Labour’s attitude to Israel, that political demography explains why Starmer started to deal with the Jewish state not as one of our nation’s most trusted and closest allies, which has been engaged in a battle to defeat Iranian proxies since the October 7, 2023 massacre, but as a de facto enemy state.
Within weeks of taking office the then Foreign Secretary David Lammy had dropped Britain’s opposition to the ICC arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant and had imposed an entirely symbolic ban on the export of certain defence equipment to Israel – symbolic because Israel had no need of them, and because our armed forces rely far more heavily on Israeli technology than the other way round. Last year the Royal College of Defence Studies was instructed no longer to admit Israelis.
Then last September Starmer did the bidding of antizionists and antisemites across the world by recognising a Palestinian state without demanding anything in return – especially and notably not requiring the release of the remaining hostages as a quid pro quo. His action was criticised as, at worst, rewarding Hamas for October 7 or, at best, giving Hamas a PR coup over more moderate Palestinians in showing that their terrorism had forced recognition.
Starmer’s government has relentlessly portrayed Israel as some kind of rogue state, which has added fuel to the antisemitic fire which has taken hold since October 7, 2023. And until very recently, when the explosion in antisemitic incidents turned violent, Starmer had uttered not a word of criticism of the hate marches and demos across Britain which have been a festival of Jew hate since the Hamas massacre.
It is all very well for Starmer to seek to portray himself as some sort of healer, expunging Jew hate from Labour. But he cannot have his cake and eat it. Since becoming PM, Starmer has hugely damaged relations with Israel (even if Israeli intelligence continues to provide vital information to our security services). The last two years will go down as the worst in living memory for relations with Israel – in large measure as a result of Starmer’s deliberate policy to appease the Muslim sectarian vote.
The only question that remains now is how much worse this will get under Burnham.
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.