Labour has become a “safe space” for Jews again under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, a survey of the party’s Jewish affiliate has found.
A survey of 363 members of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) found strong support for Starmer’s efforts to tackle antisemitism since he became leader last year. Seventy per cent of the survey’s respondents said that Labour was a safe space for Jewish people under his leadership. Only 4 per cent said that it had been a safe space under Jeremy Corbyn, his predecessor.
Asked whether they agreed with the statement “I trust that Keir Starmer is genuinely trying to tackle antisemitism,” 91 per cent of the group agreed. Three per cent believed that the statement had held true for the period of Corbyn’s leadership.
Asked whether over the past year Labour had “made positive changes to its policies, processes, rules and culture in relation to antisemitism”, 88 per cent agreed compared with 5 per cent who disagreed. Seventy-four per cent believed that complaints they made to the Labour Party about antisemitism would be taken seriously.
The survey was conducted in late October and early November, marking a year since the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that Labour had unlawfully discriminated against its Jewish members.
Corbyn contested some of the report’s conclusions, saying that actions taken by his team had “acted to speed up, not hinder the process” for investigating allegations of antisemitism. His claim that antisemitism in Labour had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” led to his suspension from the party. His suspension expired but the party whip has not been restored, meaning that he sits as an independent.
In the JLM survey, 54 per cent said they knew of Jewish friends or family who had left the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership.
Starmer’s efforts to move the party on from antisemitism allegations were buoyed by the announcement in October that Dame Louise Ellman had rejoined Labour. She is a former chairwoman of the JLM and was MP for Liverpool Riverside but quit before the 2019 election, saying that antisemitism had become mainstream in the party.
By far the biggest vindication of Starmer and makes me further happy to have voted for him in 2020.
Never ever again should Labour allow anti-semites to run rife in its ranks and in the membership, ever. Kudos to Starmer. Winning the trust of our Jewish colleagues and members is more than vital after the Corbyn years.
This is amazing news.
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[deleted]
misleading title: this is a poll of JLM members, not jewish labour members, and being a JLM member a) essentially precludes having any other opinion, and b) does not require one to be jewish. i wonder what percentage of jewish labour members are even members of JLM? certainly none of the jewish party members who have been suspended since starmer became leader, and who have pretty obviously been disproportionately targeted by the new leadership
[deleted]
His wife is Jewish. This children, per Wikipedia, are being brought up Jewish. How ANYONE could accuse him off being anti-Semitic, or of wanting his party to be so, is beyond me.
Or, just maybe, it’s done in bad faith…
And to think all he had to do with purged some members.
8 comments
Labour has become a “safe space” for Jews again under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, a survey of the party’s Jewish affiliate has found.
A survey of 363 members of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) found strong support for Starmer’s efforts to tackle antisemitism since he became leader last year. Seventy per cent of the survey’s respondents said that Labour was a safe space for Jewish people under his leadership. Only 4 per cent said that it had been a safe space under Jeremy Corbyn, his predecessor.
Asked whether they agreed with the statement “I trust that Keir Starmer is genuinely trying to tackle antisemitism,” 91 per cent of the group agreed. Three per cent believed that the statement had held true for the period of Corbyn’s leadership.
Asked whether over the past year Labour had “made positive changes to its policies, processes, rules and culture in relation to antisemitism”, 88 per cent agreed compared with 5 per cent who disagreed. Seventy-four per cent believed that complaints they made to the Labour Party about antisemitism would be taken seriously.
The survey was conducted in late October and early November, marking a year since the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that Labour had unlawfully discriminated against its Jewish members.
Corbyn contested some of the report’s conclusions, saying that actions taken by his team had “acted to speed up, not hinder the process” for investigating allegations of antisemitism. His claim that antisemitism in Labour had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” led to his suspension from the party. His suspension expired but the party whip has not been restored, meaning that he sits as an independent.
In the JLM survey, 54 per cent said they knew of Jewish friends or family who had left the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership.
Starmer’s efforts to move the party on from antisemitism allegations were buoyed by the announcement in October that Dame Louise Ellman had rejoined Labour. She is a former chairwoman of the JLM and was MP for Liverpool Riverside but quit before the 2019 election, saying that antisemitism had become mainstream in the party.
By far the biggest vindication of Starmer and makes me further happy to have voted for him in 2020.
Never ever again should Labour allow anti-semites to run rife in its ranks and in the membership, ever. Kudos to Starmer. Winning the trust of our Jewish colleagues and members is more than vital after the Corbyn years.
This is amazing news.
–
[deleted]
misleading title: this is a poll of JLM members, not jewish labour members, and being a JLM member a) essentially precludes having any other opinion, and b) does not require one to be jewish. i wonder what percentage of jewish labour members are even members of JLM? certainly none of the jewish party members who have been suspended since starmer became leader, and who have pretty obviously been disproportionately targeted by the new leadership
[deleted]
His wife is Jewish. This children, per Wikipedia, are being brought up Jewish. How ANYONE could accuse him off being anti-Semitic, or of wanting his party to be so, is beyond me.
Or, just maybe, it’s done in bad faith…
And to think all he had to do with purged some members.