‘Most Jews question if UK is safe after Labour row’ – Sacks

THE MAJORITY of Jews are questioning whether Britain is a safe place to bring up their children in the wake of the Labour anti-Semitism controversy, former chief rabbi Lord Sacks has said.

The cross-bench peer insisted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn must “recant and repent” over remarks regarding Zionism which, he claimed, risked engulfing the UK “in the flames of hatred”.

He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “Jews have been in Britain since 1656. I know of no other occasion in these 362 years when Jews – the majority of our community – are asking, ‘Is this country safe to bring up our children?.’

“Now this is very, very worrying. “Anyone who uses the term Zionist loosely, without great care, is in danger of engulfing Britain in the kind of flames of hatred that have reappeared throughout Europe, and is massively irresponsible.

“There is danger that Jeremy Corbyn may one day be prime minister, he is the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, and I’m afraid that until he expresses clear remorse for what he has said and what his party has done to its Jewish sympathisers, as well as its Jewish MPs, then he is as great a danger as Enoch Powell was.”

Lord Sacks said Jewish people were thinking about leaving the UK because of the current atmosphere.

He said: “When people hear the kind of language that has been coming out of Labour... they ... feel an existential threat.”

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said comparisons between Mr Corbyn and Enoch Powell were “just wrong”, telling the BBC: “Jeremy has made it absolutely clear we will protect Jewish members of our party from any form of abuse and antiSemitism.

“I just say to Lord Sacks, ‘You’ve got it wrong, come and talk to us.’”

Ahead of a meeting this week of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee on whether to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism in full, Mr McDonnell said: “I think all sides will be satisfied with the proposals that will be discussed.

“I think acceptance overall, and I think also the commitment to freedom of speech, and yes, a recognition of the rights of Palestinians.”

Mr McDonnell said he wanted Frank Field to “come back into the fold” after resigning the Labour whip over the anti-Semitism row.

As accusations of anti-Semitism continued to consume Labour, senior party figure Dame Margaret Hodge claimed the leadership has a “hatred of Jews” as she launched a fresh all-out attack on Mr Corbyn.