The quiet man who is making his voice heard
SOFTLY SPOKEN Alex Sobel may not have attracted the sort of headlines afforded to his more vociferous Labour colleagues, but that is no reflection on the impact he is making as a parliamentarian.
Mr Sobel, who became Britain’s newest Jewish MP when he was elected in Leeds North West a year ago, has been the driving force behind political opposition to the Polish government’s new Anti-Defamation Law, which he criticises as being both revisionist and a green light for a new wave of antisemitism.
The Polish government claims the law, passed in February, is justified to penalise the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” to describe Nazi facilities, including Auschwitz, which operated in war-torn Poland.
But suggestions of Polish responsibility for Nazi war crimes are punishable by up to three years in jail.
“My view is that effectively the law should be scrapped,” Mr Sobel argues in his first interview with the JC. “It has societal consequences in unleashing a wave of antisemitism and Holocaust revisionism. The proof already exists for that.”
During a Westminster Hall debate earlier this month, the 43-year-old father of two sons — Jakob and Zac — broke down in tears.
Both the Jewish Museum in London and the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum have received thousands of hate-filled emails regarding the new law, and staff in Poland have been subjected to vicious abuse.
Following his own opposition to the bill, Mr Sobel, who was backed by 61 MPs in a letter sent to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the issue, has himself received a barrage of antisemitic hate on social media, which he highlighted on Twitter.
“After I put the message out on Twitter it calmed down a bit,” he says. “When it happens I’m of the opinion you should always call it out.
“Seconds ago I received another tweet, saying I was in the pay of the Russians, that I was a Communist, all of my family was involved in murdering Poles after the war. All of that sort of stuff.
“To be honest I’ve been asked whether I want the Community Security Trust looking at. But the tweets are clearly not from here. The CST has stuff to do that is clearly more pertinent to Jews living here.”
Mr Sobel has always been a campaigner since he first joined antifascist and environmental protesters as a teenager growing up in Leeds, where he lived until he was 18.
“I went on all the protests against the National Front and the BNP, and also got involved with environmental campaigns,” he reveals.
“But surrounding myself with campaigners, I also wanted to be the person who got things done. I wanted to be the person that achieved things — and the only political party out there which was a vehicle for the type of issues I wanted to pursue was the Labour Party.”
Mr Sobel, whose parents arrived in the UK from Israel in 1971, joined Labour as Tony Blair came to power in 1997. At the time he was studying at Leeds University and his involvement with student politics led him to meet government ministers. A political career started to blossom.
An attempt to topple longstanding Conservative
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The fatherof-two backs Labour’s economic agenda Grieve in Beaconsfield, where Mr Sobel’s mother — who he has previously described as “typically Jewish” — now lives, in the 2005 General Election provided valuable experience in running for parliament — as well as a taste of defeat.
But the early setbacks also helped develop Mr Sobel’s reputation as an MP who devotes as much time to constituency issues as possible.
He credits Fabian Hamilton, Labour’s neighbouring Leeds North East MP, who is also Jewish, for being a “good role model” — especially during the six years Mr Sobel spent on Leeds City Council.
“I spend the time I need in Parliament, but then I also spend the time I need to in Leeds to properly represent my constituents,” he reasons.
“You put your life on hold almost when you come here to Westminster — and then you also live your life when you go back home.”
Mr Sobel is also happy to accept that “politically I’m on the left”.
He adds: “Economically, certainly, I do believe in free tuition fees, I believe a lot of privatised services should be in public hands — like water and rail.
“We didn’t quite get there under Ed Miliband — and Ed is a good friend of mine.
“I worked to get him elected as leader of the Labour Party and was much closer to Ed in many ways than Jeremy Corbyn. But having clarity on these issues is really important.
“The economic political agenda of the Labour Party now is where I would like it to be.
“I support all those policies. I have no problem with Labour’s 2017 manifesto and I was happy to stand on it.”
But this is not to suggest that Mr Sobel, a Jewish Labour Movement member, has remained silent in the midst of the continued fight against antisemitism in the party.
“I don’t think the issues the Jewish community has had with Labour were about the 2017 manifesto — or about the economic policy,” he says.
“Maybe so with some people. But the issues are the ones that everybody has talked about — antisemitism within the party, which we’ve had for too long.
“The party has taken too long to deal with them. We need to get a grip on this and get it dealt with. I very publically supported the expulsions that have taken place and will continue to make my voice heard.”
I wanted to be the person who got things done’