Jewish leaders to hold talks with Corbyn

Organisations representing Britain’s Jewish communities have written to Jeremy Corbyn accepting his offer of a meeting to discuss anti-semitism within the Labour Party.

In their letter, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council thanked Mr Corbyn for his commitment to addressing the “anguish” caused by anti-semitic incidents.

But they said that the events of the past few weeks had not been “reassuring” for Jewish people in Britain, and told him he needed to use his “personal authority” to root antisemitism out of his party.

The letter came amid controversy over Mr Corbyn’s attendance at a Passover celebration hosted on Monday by the leftwing Jewdas organisation, which has accused the Board and JLC of “cynical manipulation” of the anti-semitism row.

Mr Corbyn has played down the significance of his presence at the Seder event in north London, saying he “learned a lot” from speaking with Jewish people from his constituency.

Speaking during a local election campaign visit to Watford, he said he was “happy to meet” the two largest Jewish communal bodies “without any preconditions”, pledging to hear their concerns about tackling anti-semitism.