Gordon Brown to deliver keynote address at JLM one day conference

Gordon Brown will deliver a keynote address at the Jewish Labour Movement’s conference tomorrow.

The former prime minister will be among an array of high profile figures from across the party at the day-long event, set to be attended by 400 people.

Senior Labour MPs including Dame Margaret Hodge, and Momentum founder Jon Lansman, will join the ex-PM at the second annual event on Sunday.

Amid the party’s row over anti-Semitism, politicians and activists from across the spectrum have been invited to discuss the challenges ahead, through a series of panel sessions and workshops.

Founder of pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum, Jon Lansman, has been confirmed to speak alongside Luciana Berger, as well as MPs Ruth Smeeth and Wes Streeting, with more set to be confirmed.

Margaret Hodge, who had a disciplinary investigation against her dropped by the party after she reportedly called Jeremy Corbyn “an anti-Semite and a racist”, will be in conversation with author and journalist, Jonathan Freedland.

She clashed with the Labour leader after the party’s National Executive Committee decided to adopt a modified version of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, which left out key examples of contemporary anti-Semitism, causing anger in the community.

Since concerns were raised over the decision, Lansman, who previously called Labour’s new code a “gold standard” for fighting Jew-hatred, called for the party to fully adopt IHRA, alongside three trade union bosses.

Although the anti-Semitism crisis is to be covered extensively during the conference, organisers are looking to widen the discussion to issues including Labour politics, foreign policy, arts and culture.

 Andrew Gilbert, Conference Chair told Jewish News: “This is the right time to see who in Labour is prepared to stand with us.  It is also a moment for us to be able in safe space to work together on new narratives and to express the ideas and hopes of   the Jewish community as well as our frustrations.  To organise the largest conference of the Jewish Labour Movement seems totally appropriate for this time.”

• Last few tickets for the conference are available here: https://www.jlm.org.uk/conference2018