Politics
‘Antisemitism has no place in society’, Starmer tells PMQs
The prime minister repeated commitment to CST funding and Holocaust education
January 8, 2025 14:13
The prime minister repeated commitment to CST funding and Holocaust education
January 8, 2025 14:13Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described antisemitism as “completely abhorrent” at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Starmer was responding to a question by Leeds South West and Morley MP Mark Sewards who recalled a visit to Krakow last year at the invitation of the European Jewish Association to “discuss the role of Holocaust education in tackling the rising tide of antisemitism across Europe.”
“We also visited Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau, where we laid wreaths and paid tribute to the many victims of the Holocaust” said the Labour MP who was first elected to Parliament in July last year.
He went on to ask Starmer “what this government is doing on Holocaust education, to ensure that ‘never again’ means never again?”
The prime minister responded by saying that: “Antisemitism is completely abhorrent. It has no place whatsoever in our society.”
He then recalled a meeting with Jewish communal leaders held late last year “to discuss what further we can do to combat antisemitism”.
Starmer reiterated previous commitments to the Jewish community including: “allocating £54 million for the Community Security Trust (CST) to continue their vital work, committing to budling a new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, and providing at least £ 2.2 million pounds to continue the funding of lessons from Auschwitz”, a Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) project.
A CST spokesperson said the group was “grateful to the government for providing this multi-year funding for commercial security guards at Jewish schools, synagogues and other buildings, which CST administers in partnership with the Home Office.”
Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of HET told the JC that the organisation was “deeply grateful to the prime minister for reaffirming the Government’s commitment to Holocaust education through the continued funding of our Lessons from Auschwitz Project.”
She continued: “This vital support ensures that thousands of young people each year have the opportunity to see the most notorious site of the Holocaust for themselves, learn about the Holocaust and reflect on its lessons for today.
Pollock emphasised that: “As we approach the 80th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, as survivors become fewer in number and as antisemitism continues to blight society, this support is crucial.”
In September last year, Starmer was keynote speaker at HET’s annual dinner.
He pledged to keep Holocaust education on the national curriculum “come what may”.