Jewish groups praise Starmer’s ‘good start’
New Labour leader hailed for more anti-semitism action in ‘four days than Corbyn did in four years’
SIR KEIR STARMER has done more in “four days” to combat anti-semitism than Jeremy Corbyn did in “four years”, Jewish leaders claimed yesterday as the new Labour leader vowed to overhaul the party’s disciplinary processes.
Emphasising his determination to tackle Labour’s long-running antiSemitism scandal, Sir Keir confirmed he would press ahead with establishing an independent complaints system.
Addressing four Jewish leadership groups via video conference, the 57-year-old said he would be demanding a report on all outstanding cases in the party by the end of the week and confirmed he intended to roll out training on anti-semitism for all Labour staff as “soon as practically possible”.
It comes just four days after Sir Keir issued a formal apology to Britain’s Jewish community as his first act after being elected, adding that he would “tear out the poison” of anti-semitism from the party.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s new deputy leader, also stated her commitment to tackling anti-semitism to the leaders of the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Labour Movement.
A source involved in the call told The Daily Telegraph: “Keir understands in a way his predecessor never did that anti-semitism in the party will never change without the leader setting the tone and culture of the organisation.”
In a joint statement issued afterwards, the organisations said: “Keir Starmer has already achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years in addressing anti-semitism within the Labour Party.
“As we discussed with Keir and Angela, we want to have a normal relationship with Labour whereby we can discuss the full range of issues affecting our community, from religious freedom to Israel, from Jewish schools to poverty, from refugees to the environment – and not just anti-semitism.
“This has been a good start. If the new Labour leadership continues in this way, we can work together to make the changes that will make Labour a proudly anti-racist party once again.”
The statement marks a clear change in tone from Britain’s Jewish leaders, who had for two years repeatedly clashed with Mr Corbyn over his failure to get to grips with the problem.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who last year branded Mr Corbyn “unfit for high office”, said of Sir Keir: “I hope that he will indeed take swift and decisive action to eradicate the scourge of anti-semitism from within the party.”
With Labour still under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over allegations of institutional anti-semitism, Sir Keir also promised to cooperate fully with the watchdog. In a statement after the meeting, he said: “Today, I repeated the apology I made as soon as I was elected leader. Going forward, it will not be enough to ‘pass the test’ on antiSemitism. We need to set new standards for best practice.”