CHIEF RABBI: THE SOUL OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE
In unprecedented intervention, he attacks anti-Semitic ‘poison’ rife in Labour – and warns of consequences of Corbyn victory
The Chief Rabbi issued a stark warning last night about the consequences of a Labour election victory.
Making an unprecedented intervention, Ephraim Mirvis said the vast majority of British Jews were ‘gripped by anxiety’ at the idea of Jeremy Corbyn in No 10.
He accused Mr Corbyn of allowing the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism to take root in Labour and said it could no longer claim to be the party of diversity, equality and anti-racism.
Urging voters to examine their consciences in the polling booth, he said the election result would shine a light on the country’s moral compass.
‘The very soul of our nation is at stake,’ Rabbi Mirvis warned.
The Chief Rabbi took aim at Mr Corbyn for supporting a racist mural and for describing terrorists who endorse the murder of Jews as ‘friends’.
His remarks came as Mr Corbyn prepared to launch his party’s ‘race and faith manifesto’ this morning, which includes a plan to hold an inquiry into far-Right extremism.
It will also propose to teach all schoolchildren about the ‘injustice’ of the British empire.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said it was ‘staggering’ that Labour would
The overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety. The question I am most frequently asked is: What will become of Jews and Judaism in Britain if the Labour Party forms the next government? The Jewish community has... learned the hard way that speaking out means that we will be demonised... and accused of being partisan or acting in bad faith by those who still think of this as an orchestrated political smear. Yet, I ask myself: should the victims of racism be silenced by the fear of yet further vilification? The way in which the leadership of the Labour Party has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud. It has left many decent Labour members and parliamentarians, both Jewish and non-Jewish, ashamed... A new poison – sanctioned from the very top – has taken root in the Labour Party. Many members of the Jewish community can hardly believe this is the same party that they proudly called their political home... How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be in order to be considered unfit for high office? Would associations with those who have openly incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would support for a racist mural, depicting powerful hook-nosed Jews supposedly getting rich at the expense of the weak and downtrodden, be enough? Would describing as “friends” those who endorse and even perpetrate the murder of Jews be enough? It seems not. What we do know from history is that what starts with the Jews, never ends with the Jews. It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I simply pose the following question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country? I ask every person to vote with their conscience. Be in no doubt – the very soul of our nation.