Britain would be diminished without Jews, says Sir Eric Pickles
BRITAIN WOULD lose a fundamental part of its identity if Jews were to leave because of antisemitism, Sir Eric Pickles has warned.
The former Cabinet minister suggested it would be a catastrophe if the Jewish community in the UK followed the lead of French Jews in departing their homeland to seek safety elsewhere.
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.”
Attending the sixth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, held in Jerusalem last week, Sir Eric acknowledged a “wave of antisemitism taking place in Europe” but said it would be an exaggeration to say Jews are unsafe in Britain.
However, he added: “We’re not a million miles away from what happened on the continent, and we have to ensure that our population is safe.”
Sir Eric was responding
Sir Eric Pickles to a report issued by Jewish Policy Report that found that about 30 per cent of the adult British population showed “antisemitic attitudes at different intensities”
The study, Antisemitism in contemporary Great Britain, also found that about three per cent of people hold multiple antisemitic attitudes, but are not confident about expressing them.
It also suggested that a “much larger number of people” believe negative stereotypes and ideas about Jews, although they do not realise that doing so could be seen as antisemitic.
Sir Eric served as the Communities Secretary in David Cameron’s first government. The former MP for Brentwood and Ongar, in Essex, is a prominent member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, and was its parliamentary chairman.