Grim prospect

Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection. As such, it is customary for the JC to pull together the various threads of the past year and ponder what impact these will have over the next. This year, one issue has dominated British Jewish life — and in shuls and homes across the country, it is what we will be talking about next week and long after. In the days after the Paris murders in 2015, our pollsters, Survation, asked: “Have last week’s events in Paris made you consider leaving Britain?” Just 11 per cent said they had. Nothing better illustrates the impact of three years of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, and the widespread fear at the prospect of his becoming prime minister, than the fact that, in a new Survation poll, 39 per cent of British Jews agree that, “if Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister, I would seriously consider emigrating”.

What is truly shocking about that finding is that it is not in fact shocking. When Lord Sacks said last weekend that British Jews were discussing whether this country will be safe for our children, he was derided for scaremongering. Among British Jews, however, we knew he was simply recounting what is happening. As our poll shows, many of us are indeed wondering if we should leave Britain if Jeremy Corbyn comes to power. Before Mr Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party, such a thought would have been unimaginable. Now, it is entirely normal. No wonder: when our likely next prime minister is — let us not use euphemisms — an antisemite, how could we not worry? It is traditional to end by wishing our readers a happy, healthy and peaceful new year. This year, at least the first of those words seems a wish too far.