Bradford Council has voted overwhelmingly to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in a move its Labour leader said was a sign the city was a place of “welcome”.
At a packed full council meeting on Tuesday night, the motion to adopt the IHRA definition was passed, as 80 Conservative and Labour Councillors united to back its implementation - the same day the party outraged British Jews by refusing to adopt the same at a national level.
Ahead of the debate, council leader Susan Hinchcliffe and the Bradford Council For Mosques both issued an appeal for “calm” among local Muslims who were concerned that adopting the IHRA definition would close down criticism of Israel.
But speaking in Tuesday’s debate, Cllr Hinchcliffe argued there was “nothing problematic in the definition or its examples” of how criticising Israel can be antisemitic. She added that she herself would still remain critical of Israeli government policies.
