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Policies on Middle East and combating antisemitism missing from Conservative manifesto
The 88-page document unveiled in Halifax, west Yorkshire, today, does not refer to the position Britain would take on the Middle East.
May 18, 2017 11:09
The 88-page document unveiled in Halifax, west Yorkshire, today, does not refer to the position Britain would take on the Middle East.
May 18, 2017 11:09Theresa May’s general election manifesto has failed to outline the Conservative Party’s policies on tackling antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The 88-page document unveiled in Halifax, west Yorkshire, today, does not refer to the position Britain would take on the Middle East.
While the manifesto concentrates largely on Brexit and domestic social reforms, it is in sharp contrast with the Labour and Liberal Democrat documents published earlier this week.
Jeremy Corbyn said a Labour government would immediately recognise a Palestinian state, while Tim Farron said his party would take the same move, “as and when” it was helpful to the peace process.
Both parties said they would challenge antisemitism in Britain.
The 2015 Tory manifesto, unveiled by David Cameron, had reiterated the party’s long-standing policy on Israel and the Palestinians.
It pledged to support a two-state solution, “robustly” defended Israel’s right to protect itself, while condemning settlement building. The document also outlined support for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
Mrs May said a Tory government would make CCTV recording in slaughterhouses mandatory, a policy which would have an impact on the practice of shechita.
The manifesto says Britain is “one of the world’s most successful multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious societies. We are proud of our diversity, and the cultural and economic enrichment it brings.
“The enjoyment and pride we take in our diversity should not cause us to ignore the fact that in too many parts of our country, we have communities that are divided, often along racial or religious lines.
“To address this, we will bring forward a new integration strategy.”
Part of the policy would see the Tories work with schools “to make sure that those with intakes from one predominant racial, cultural or religious background teach their students about pluralistic, British values and help them to get to know people with different ways of life”.
There would also be renewed efforts to tackle extremism.
“Our enjoyment of Britain’s diversity must not prevent us from confronting the menace of extremism. Extremism, especially Islamist extremism, strips some British people, especially women, of the freedoms they should enjoy, undermines the cohesion of our society and can fuel violence.
“To defeat extremism, we need to learn from how civil society and the state took on racism in the twentieth century.”
The Conservatives plan to establish a Commission for Countering Extremism, "to identify examples of extremism and expose them, to support the public sector and civil society, and help the government to identify policies to defeat extremism and promote pluralistic values".
