Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is being urged to end his party’s affiliation to trade unions that support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), the main organiser of protests that have seen calls for an “intifada from London to Gaza”.
A letter to Starmer organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism and signed by its chief executive Gideon Falter, JK Rowling’s literary agent Neil Blair, film producer Lisa Bryer, Countdown presenter Rachel Riley and actress Tracy-Ann Oberman asks him to “demonstrate leadership” by requiring Labour-affiliated unions to withdraw support from the PSC.
“If they refuse,” the letter goes on, “we ask that you make clear they should no longer be affiliated to Labour.”
Tens of thousands of demonstrators congregated in Trafalgar Square last weekend. Many clashed with riot police in Whitehall and dozens of marchers were arrested for offences including inciting racial hatred.
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True colours: Unite’s logo appears on a pro-Palestinian banner at a protest (Photo: Alamy)
Videos emerged of protesters screaming “intifada, revolution” and “smash the Zionist settler state”.
Last week, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman denounced the protests as “hate marches”.
At present, seven of the 13 directors of the limited company that runs the PSC are serving or retired union officials, including two from Unite. The union is affiliated to the Labour Party, although since Starmer became leader in 2019 it has cut its funding to the party and threatened to withdraw it altogether.
Other unions affiliated to Labour are listed on the PSC website as also being affiliated with the pro-Palestinian group including the train drivers’ union Aslef, the Fire Brigades Union, Unison and the GMB.
The letter says the signatories “appreciate your swift condemnation of the vile attacks in Israel and for standing with both Israel and British Jews in solidarity during this wounding time,” while “the advice sent on your instruction by General Secretary David Evans to Labour members not to join protests was also welcome”.
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Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer (Photo: Getty)
But, it goes on, “the continuing relationship between those unions that are officially affiliated to Labour and those same unions officially backing the organisers of Saturday’s marches undermines your response to the terrorist attacks on Israel.
“It has been in front of the banners of the PSC that Hamas’s attack has been described as ‘beautiful’, that the annihilation of Israel ‘from the river to the sea’ has been called for.”
The JC approached Starmer’s office for comment.
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