A Labour leadership candidate has now launched a fresh proposal detailing how she would tackle antisemitism in Labour if she were to be elected the party leader. On Sunday, 9th February, unveiling her plan Lisa Nandy asserted her believe that Labour had to go through fundamental changes. She emphasised that it was a “make-or-break time” for many Jewish members as to whether they remain in the party.
This follows in suit of claims made by the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity monitoring anti-Jewish incidents. According to the CST as many as 1,805 complaints related to anti-Semitic incidents were lodged in Britain in 2019, which is an all-time high. It also alleged that more than a tenth of the complaints was "related to the Labour Party" and that the online attacks account for around 39 per cent of such incidents in the UK.
“My [Jewish] friends in the party have spent the last few years questioning on a daily basis whether they should remain,” Nandy said. “They’ve had to face a lot of hostility from other people about their decision to stay. So this is make-or-break time for a lot of people.
“They need to know that, going forward, starting on 4 April, the party has understood the level of the crisis of trust that we have, and that we’re going to change.”
The MP for Wigan has called for renewed measures to tackle anti-Jewish sentiments including a transparent, independent disciplinary process and better education. As part of ensuring transparency, Nandy pledged to share information on disciplinary cases with MPs, local parties, the Jewish Labour Movement which had earlier declined to support Corbyn during the general elections and the media. The JLM would be brought back to carry out training on antisemitism. She said,
“It’s not true to say that the entire party is antisemitic. It’s almost the opposite – I have party members who have fought off the far right here in Wigan for decades. They’ve taken blows in the streets against some of these racists. They spent six weeks standing on doorsteps being called racists in the most difficult election I can remember. They’re tired and they’ve been let down.”
The plan also calls for an immediate zero-tolerance policy under a new leader, with the party fully implementing, as a minimum, any recommendations from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is formally investigating the allegations of antisemitism. Another instant change would be to lower the threshold for suspending members where there are “credible accusations of antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism”.
All the other remaining leadership candidates have pledged to take greater action to combat antisemitism, and have backed 10 pledges set out by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Other frontrunners include Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey, and Emily Thornberry
