Labour still in thrall to its cranks in Israel obsession

Today marks the first anniversary of the publication of the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into the Labour Party — a dark day for Labour and for British politics itself. Reflecting on the past year, the most obvious point is that Labour has indeed changed, and for the better. At its last conference, the party adopted the new rules demanded by the EHRC. And Sir Keir Starmer appears sincere in his desire to rid Labour of antisemitism. But even with these two positives the evidence still shows how much further Labour has to go. Over a quarter of delegates at this year’s Labour conference could not bring themselves to vote for the new rules, for example, despite Labour being legally obliged to do so. The party has still only taken a few steps on the marathon journey it needs to travel before its culture is free of racism.

The party has still taken only a few steps on the marathon journey it needs to travel

Research we publish this week shows the obsession with Israel even of front benchers whom no one could legitimately accuse of antisemitism. The research is revealing. They are weathervanes, tweeting obsessively about Israel and Palestine because they know it is what their base, and the party membership, wants to see. In many ways this is the real indicator of whether Labour has changed. Any serious party would of course have an interest in the Middle East. But only a party in thrall to cranks would obsess about Israel above all other foreign policy issues. A year on after the EHRC report, Labour remains such a party.