Jewish leader voices concern over the new role for Matt Wrack, who previously referred to ‘so-called antisemitism in the Labour Party’
April 23, 2025 16:42
The election of a hard-left supporter of Jeremy Corbyn to lead Britain’s second biggest union for teachers has prompted concern in the Jewish community.
Matt Wrack, the former head of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), launched a fiery attack on “so-called antisemitism” in Labour and the attempts to “undermine” Corbyn in a 2016 conference speech.
Wrack, himself a former firefighter, was confirmed as the new general secretary of teaching union NASUWT yesterday.
Russell Langer, director of public affairs at the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) told the JC: "Jewish teachers who are members of NASUWT will be rightly concerned by a general secretary who played a leading role in downplaying antisemitism in the Labour Party."
During his time in charge of the FBU, Wrack was an enthusiastic supporter of Corbyn’s leadership, with the union re-affiliating to support the Labour Party in 2015, having withdrawn support in 2004.
In a 2016 FBU conference he said: “The so-called furore about so-called antisemitism in the Labour Party … is, in reality not at all about antisemitism; it is about an attack on the left, and it is about an attempt to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.”
He added: “We have people in the Labour Party now suspended and under investigation for comments that they have made in this regard. It is especially alarming in the context of a society where we have, almost daily, hostile articles in the press and increasingly widespread hostility towards Muslim people in this society”.
The union backed a motion, entitled “the right to criticise”, which said the conference was “appalled at the strategy of some within the Labour Party, the Tories and the right wing press in trying to stir up a false storm of antisemitism within the party.”
It continued: “Conference is disgusted with the antics of John Mann and the right wing in attempting to engender a position where any discourse relating to the atrocities carried out by the Israeli state upon the peoples of Palestine is somehow antisemitic.”
The conference took place shortly after Mann’s clash with former London Mayor Ken Livingstone over antisemitism in the Labour Party.
However, Wrack also urged union members to be cautious with their language, particularly in relation to antisemitism and anti-Zionism. He said: “There are other Jewish people who may describe themselves as Zionists but who have clearly come out and opposed the witch-hunt that is going on against people in the Labour Party.”
In 2018, Wrack criticised the decision by pro-Corbyn group Momentum to withdraw support from Pete Willsman after he was recorded saying that Jewish “Trump fanatics” were making false claims of antisemitism in the party and denying the problem was widespread.
The former FBU general secretary said the removal of support was “cowardly, undemocratic and politically inept”, adding: “If you run away at the first sign of trouble you will never achieve change” and claimed that Willsman’s comments were “an angry rant, nothing antisemitic”.
In 2020, after the investigation into antisemitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Labour was found responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.
Corbyn refused to accept the conclusions of the EHRC report on antisemitism in the Labour Party under his leadership, claiming the issue had been “dramatically overstated” by his rivals and the media.
He was later expelled by Labour after he stood as an independent MP in July’s election.
The JLC’s Russell Langer said: “At a time where Jewish teachers are dealing with a frightening rise in antisemitism in the workplace, they deserve a union leader who will prioritise their welfare”.
Earlier this month, prior to his election, the Guardian reported that ministers were concerned about the prospect of his victory given NASUWT’s reputation as a more moderate teaching union in comparison to the National Education Union (NEU).
The NEU has faced criticism for pursuing an anti-Israel agenda. At the union’s conference last week, delegates voted for an arms embargo against Israel.
Wrack was elected by the executive committee of NASUWT, rather than a ballot of members of the union.
He said he was “honoured” to be taking up the position of general secretary and lamented that: “Teachers have suffered as a result of 14 years of austerity; so has education as a whole.”
The new general secretary urged the government to “urgently start investing in education and that includes addressing the fact that teachers’ salaries and living standards have fallen behind.”
NASUWT has been contacted for comment.