Rabbi Lord Sacks has said Jewish prayer services were “terribly boring” before his time as chief rabbi.

In a wide-ranging interview for the Sunday Times Magazine's 'Relative Values' segment with his wife Elaine, Lord Sacks said: "When I started... I spoke about a decade of Jewish renewal.

"Today, we have a community that is younger and more knowledgeable than it has been in the past.

"We built more Jewish schools than in any other period of Anglo-Jewish history. Our prayer services were terribly boring and now they are lively and engaging and participative."

He also said Judaism, in contrast to other religions, was "belonging without believing", adding: “Being a loyal Jew means believing in the people of whom you are a member.”

He contrasted Judaism with Anglicanism, saying “lots of people in the UK say they are a member of the Church of England as a religious identity, but few of them say they go.

"That is believing without belonging. Judaism is the opposite — belonging without believing.”

Rabbi Lord Sacks also said he has “a persistent lack of belief” in himself, and said he regretted how his duties had meant he could not spend as enough time with his children when they were growing up.

Rabbi Lord Sacks, who has made a number of public speeches over the last few years on the resurgence of antisemitism in Europe and the failure of politicians and parties to confront it, said he found it “very difficult to find faith in human beings” when he saw examples of the latter.

“How has Jeremy Corbyn dealt with antisemitism in the Labour Party? I stand by what I said about him, absolutely. I feel that this is a genuine stain on the fabric of British political life.”

He also described meeting his wife while they were both students at Cambridge University and proposing to her three weeks later, saying: “I profoundly regret that it took so long.”

Lady Elaine described how she had initially felt “shy” as the chief rabbi’s wife, which had led to people thinking she “was being stand-offish”.

However, she “soon learnt that if you’re giving a little speech or a prize-giving at a school, they’re on your side, they’re not out to get you.”

She also spoke about the rise in antisemitism over the last couple of decades, saying a family friend was recently leaving a synagogue with his two sons when a man targeted them with abuse.

“The kids always looked forward to going to synagogue with their dad and now they are nervous to go”, she said.

She described how during her husband’s time as chief rabbi, they had met a large number of dignitaries from both the royal and political spheres.

“People often ask who I was most impressed by, but I don’t have an answer”, she told the paper. “You realise that everyone is just human.”