Cooper warns at Foreign Office Holocaust event of violent effects of hate in today’s society

Yvette Cooper has used her speech at the joint Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Embassy of Israel Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration to speak of the urgent need to use the lessons of the Shoah to “relentlessly confront” hatred in today’s society.

At Monday’s annual event, at which survivor Mala Tribich was given a standing ovation after delivering her moving testimony, the Foreign Secretary also spoke of a global effort to tackle the scourge of antisemitism in the aftermath of terror attacks in Australia, and in this country in Manchester.

She said:”I will continue to work with counterparts around the world to tackle the global rise of antisemitism, including close collaboration with Canada and Australia in the wake of recent attacks.”

Cooper also added: “Just as I am committed to preventing atrocities and pushing for accountability wherever they occur – from Sudan to Iran.”

Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, the Chargé d’affaires at the Israeli Embassy to the UK, also delivered a well-received speech at the event, which took place inside the Grand Locarno room at the Foreign Office.

She noted that while Holocaust Memorial Day served as a reminder of the suffering of the six million innocent Jews murdered by the Nazis, it also represented a sign of the “strength of the Jewish people not to be beaten.”

With remarkable calmness and clarity, Mala Tribich MBE also told how she and her brother were the only members of her family to survive the Holocaust, following her imprisonment in Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen camps.

Tribich was greeted with a round of applause and a standing ovation after her speech.

Foreign Secretary Cooper also said Britain is determined to tackle those who “spread the poison of antisemitism” online and in the streets as she confirmed the appointment of a new UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues.

Former Labour Friends of Israel parliamentary chair Jon Pearce MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Keir Starmer, had been appointed UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, saying he will “give advice and push forward UK policy, including promoting Holocaust education, remembrance and research here and around the world”.

Lord Eric Pickles had previously served as the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues from September 2015 to April 2025.

Referring to the Manchester synagogue attack and the Bondi killings in Sydney in December, Cooper said: “We mark Holocaust Memorial Day at a time of successive repugnant attacks on Jews here in the UK and overseas.
“Jews killed for being Jews. In the 21st century.”

She also paid tribute to Holocaust survivor Tribich, who is now aged 95, for her “strength and bravery” in sharing her story at the event.

Cooper noted that each year fewer survivors remain to share their first-hand accounts, but insisted that does not bring an end to remembrance, it “simply places it firmly in our hands, so that we carry and reinforce it through education, dialogue and action”.

The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK Government’s solidarity with Jews in Britain.

She said: “ I want to say clearly on behalf of this Government.
“That we stand with the Jewish community today and every day.
“Unresolving in our resolve to tackle those who spread the poison of antisemitism online and on our streets. Unrelenting in our determination to stand against antisemitism.”

Cooper told those gathered at Monday’s event, which also included musical performances and a minute of silence, she was “so pleased” Parliament had last week passed the Holocaust Memorial Act.

She described that as a “vital step” towards establishing the national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre at Victoria Tower Gardens.

The chosen site, immediately adjacent to the Palace of Westminster, has been controversial, with disquiet over the loss of green space in central London, the design of the scheme, and security implications.

Cooper said: “A location so close to Parliament is fitting because we must never forget that the road to the Holocaust began in a democracy.”

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on Tuesday this year, with the theme of “bridging generations”, aimed at highlighting the role that younger people will play in preserving memories of the Holocaust in the future.