JLM National Secretary appears to criticise Board over antisemitism briefing

The national secretary of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) appeared to launch a concealed attack against the Board of Deputies this week.

Writing in Jewish News, Peter Mason criticised “those in the community who seemingly wish to draw an artificial line in the sand, reverting relationships with the Labour Party to that which came before Corbyn.”

His comments follows reports that Labour is set to offer a private briefing to the Board of Deputies, after the representative body raised concerns this week over 11 disciplinary cases of alleged antisemitism.

A briefing on the allegations, believed to be outstanding and “among the most serious”, was sent to the Party, the Board said in a statement on earlier this week.

On Monday, the Jewish Labour Movement held a virtual meeting with Keir Starmer, which was the first formal meeting between the community’s affiliate with the party and the leader since 2014.

Mason said in his op-ed, “a return to the old status quo of parlour meetings and parlour games in the mistaken belief that asking for things to happen will make it so. The world has moved on from this model, and so has the Labour Party.”

He reflected on the communal unity during the Labour antisemitism row, including the Enough is Enough protest, organised by the Board and Jewish Leadership Council, saying “it will require herculean strength of the new Leader to see the change in culture that is required.”