Jews are at the centre of British politics and, for once, this is not a conspiracy theory. Never has this country’s tiny Jewish minority been so important to the credibility of the two major parties. Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has staked his reputation on making his party safe for Jewish members after the crank antisemitism of the Corbyn years. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are hugging Jews close to differentiate themselves. As one veteran antisemitism campaigner told me before boarding the train to Manchester to accept the warm embrace of the party conference this week: “In the Tory Party at the moment, they are falling over each other to show how much they love the Jews.”
Sir Keir described Dame Louise Ellman’s return to the Labour Party at last week’s conference as “poignant”. But it was so much more than that. The former MP for Liverpool Riverside is one of the most respected figures in British politics. Her statement that the Labour leader has shown a “willingness to confront both the anti-Jewish racists and the toxic culture which allowed antisemitism to flourish” is the best endorsement the Labour leader could possibly have hoped for. Former Stoke MP Ruth Smeeth’s passionate platform speech will also go some way to allaying the fears of those who had given up hope that Labour could ever return to the mainstream of British politics.
But there is a long way to go. The cranks are still there, as the conference-floor hecklers who raised questions about the influence of Keir Starmer’s Jewish wife demonstrated. The Jewish Labour Movement has challenged the hard left Momentum group to justify why it urged delegates to vote against rule changes mandated by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Israel remains an obsession for some Labour members and conference still managed to pass a motion condemning Israeli “apartheid” that could have been written by Jeremy Corbyn.
And there is still the question of Corbyn himself, under whose leadership Mr Starmer served. Many still feel the clean-up will not be complete until it is made clear that the independent MP for Islington will never be permitted to return to the party he left as a poisoned husk. This would go some way to reassuring people that the Labour leader – who campaigned to put Corbyn in number 10 in the last election – is acting in good faith.
Dame Louise told me she had been “devastated” to leave Labour but could not stay in a party that was antisemitic. She said she re-joined because Keir Starmer was starting to deal with the issue. “But I am very aware that the problem is still there. The judgement has to be about actions. I want a situation where instances of antisemitism are rare and seen to be abhorrent.”
It was shocking how quickly such attitudes become normalised during the Corbyn era and how few people within the party stood up for those on the receiving end of abuse. There is understandable concern that members still do not understand the full extent of the hurt felt — that this is a moral, not just an electoral issue. As one community source close to the scandal said to me: “A certain section of activists say the party has to change because the leadership says we need to do this. But if you are just blindly following the leadership then that’s part of the problem.”
It is to everyone’s shame that Louise Ellman has become an iconic figure in British politics because she was a victim of vicious antisemitism. This should not detract from her record as a committed constituency MP and her service as the universally respected chair of the Transport Select Committee for the best part of a decade.
The Tories have taken full advantage of Labour’s embarrassment, with Oliver Dowden acting as one-man philosemitic love bomb. As Culture Secretary he sought out the Edinburgh Fringe show Musicians of Jewish Origin (MOJO) for particular attention and described Jeremy Sassoon’s show as “foot-tapping” — the ultimate dad-dancing praise. In his new role as party chairman, Mr Dowden made a point of tweeting a picture of himself at conference taking tea with Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. “Look,” he seems to be saying, “I love Jews so much I am prepared to pose with one of the most right-wing women in Israel.”
It would be perhaps too cynical to say this isn’t about concern for the Jewish community at all: that Jews are merely a political football. But to use the latest jargon, too much of the discussion in this area is “performative”. Much more needs to be done to reassure that the actions of Sir Keir and Mr Dowden go beyond virtue signalling. They should be advised that good community politics depends on treating Jewish people with respect, not “as Jews”. Philosemitism, though well meant, can sometimes serve to caricature Jewish culture every bit as effectively as antisemitism.
Both major parties will be judged by their actions. For the Labour Party, this will involve the full implementation of the recommendations of the EHRC and the systematic expulsion of antisemites from the party. It will be interesting, therefore, to watch what happens in Liverpool, where Louise Ellman and her colleague Luciana Berger were subjected to a sustained campaign of victimisation during the Corbyn period. An internal Labour Party report found evidence of endemic misogyny, bullying and antisemitism and recommended the national Labour Party take control of candidate selection until June 2026. This will be the next test of Sir Keir’s mettle and, following his decision to write for the Sun, it could get very nasty indeed.
On the Government side, the Online Safety Bill will be a touchstone in terms of action on hate speech. Having failed to persuade the social media companies to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, the Board of Deputies knows regulation is the only game in town. This will be no simple matter, as there remain serious concerns about the free speech implications of the new legislation. However, the sheer level of material being picked up by organisations such as the Community Security Trust will embolden ministers to act. At the same time, the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill is designed to take the culture wars to universities. Jewish parents will want assurances that the government’s free speech crusade will not extend to the likes of Professor David Miller, who targeted Jewish students as agents of Israel before being dismissed last week.
But there is one sense in which Jews are not at the centre of British politics at all. The parliamentary frontline has become an increasingly hostile place for Jewish politicians and several on the Labour benches have understandably withdrawn from the fray. There are just two Jewish MPs in the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet: Grant Shapps and Ed Miliband. To put this in perspective, Hindus occupy two of the three great offices of state, but we never hear about the sinister hand of India in British politics with respect to Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel. Why? Because that would be an outrageous racist slur unworthy of respectable political discourse. Until this standard applies to Jews, it is hard to see a new generation of politicians stepping forward to take the place of Louise Ellman.
