Cleverly accuses government of failing to act on antisemitism after Gail’s bakery attacks
EXCLUSIVE: Senior Tory tells Jewish News: 'Ministers should be more focused on this and less on trying to use sectarian appeals to win votes'
Conservative shadow communities secretary James Cleverly has accused Keir Starmer’s government of failing to take “robust and immediate action” against rising Jew-hatred after raising concern about antisemitic incidents at Gail’s bakeries.
The former home secretary hit out after tabling a written parliamentary question demanding to know what ministers were doing to both tackle and challenge antisemitic incidents such as the recent spate of attacks on Gail’s bakeries by anti-Israel activists.
But Cleverly told Jewish News he was frustrated by the response he received from Housing minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, and accused the government of failing to sufficiently focus on tackling Jew-hatred while “trying to use sectarian appeals to win votes.”
The senior Tory MP had tabled a question asking what discussions had taken place with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on “(a) challenging and (b) tackling antisemitic attacks against retail branches of Gail’s.”
In her response to Cleverly, Fahnbulleh wrote: “Antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place in our society.
“The government remains committed to tackling all forms of hatred and ensuring that everyone in the UK can live free from fear of discrimination or violence.
“Work is ongoing across government on tackling antisemitism in all its forms, and as set out in our recent Protecting What Matters publication.
“To deliver this, we will continue to work with the Antisemitism Working Group, and ministers are in regular discussions on antisemitism and antisemitic attacks.
“Where incidents involve criminal behaviour, this is an operational matter for the police.”
Cleverly told Jewish News: “The targeting of Gail’s is nothing more than a cover for antisemitism.
“Yet Labour are failing to do anything to tackle this example of the vile hatred against Jews that is becoming so prevalent in our society.
“Ministers should be more focused on this and less on trying to use sectarian appeals to win votes.
“With antisemitic incidents and attacks on the rise, words are not enough. If Keir Starmer is really serious that his Party has changed, he should prove it by taking robust and immediate action.”
In February, a Gail’s bakery in Archway, north London, became the latest outlet to be targeted by pro-Palestine activists when it was daubed with graffiti citing links to Israeli “war tech.”
Similar incidents have occurred at other Gail’s stores in the UK.
A recent column in the Guardian newspaper by football writer Jonathan Liew appeared to defend the vandalism directed at the Archway branch of Gail’s bakery by pro-Palestine activists.
Liew was heavily criticised for an article suggesting that the presence of the north London store next to a Palestinian-run café was “an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression.”
Gail’s was founded in the 1990s as a bakery by a team of Israeli cooks, including Gail Mejia and Ran Avidan, and opened its first storefront bakery in 2005.
But in 2021, the company was acquired by the American investment firm Bain Capital, which has invested in Israeli tech companies, along with other high street outlets, including Burger King and Domino’s.
“We are a British business with no specific connections to any country or government outside the UK,” a spokesperson for Gail’s told Jewish News earlier this year. “Our focus right now is on working with the authorities and making sure our people feel safe and supported.”
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