Keir Starmer: I will ‘take no lessons’ from Boris Johnson on Labour antisemitism

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will take “no lessons” from Boris Johnson on tackling antisemitism and other forms of racism within his party.

The Labour leader was responding to a speech given by the Prime Minister this week in which he suggested Starmer had failed to erase the “infestation” of antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer accused the PM of “looking to stoke division rather than fighting racism” with his speech at a Conservative Friends of Israel lunch.

Johnson also claimed Labour still had Hamas and Hezbollah within its ranks.

After alleging that “the weevil infestation of antisemitism” is still in evidence in Starmer’s Labour, the PM added in his speech; “I’m afraid some of the prejudices are still sadly the same and the people who have taken power are still part of the same movement, in many cases sadly still the same people who count Hamas and Hezbollah as their friends.”

Jewish News asked the Opposition Leader’s Office for comment on the PM’s claims, made at Monday’s CFI lunch in central London.

A Labour Party spokesperson said:“Keir promised as his first act as leader to rip out antisemitism by its roots, and we are pleased with the progress made in rebuilding our relationships with Jewish communities.

“The Prime Minister, true to form, is looking to stoke divisions rather than helping to fight racism and we will take no lessons from him on it.”

Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge also pointed to a speech given by the Tory MP Crispin Blunt last week in the House of Commons during the debate on Hamas proscription.

Labour had supported Home Secretary Priti Patel’s move to ban Hamas in full in the UK.

But Blunt was reprimanded by colleagues within his own party for his speech in which he claimed  Hamas had a legitimate right to mount attacks Israel.

Blunt even went so far as to deny he was a Hamas supporter in a widely condemned Commons speech last Wednesday.

Dame Margaret Hodge told Jewish News:”It seems to me that rather than continuing to try and weaponise antisemitism, Boris Johnson needs to take a closer look at MPs on his own side.

“It is beyond comprehension that we had a Tory MP engaging in what appeared to be Hamas apologist rhetoric in the House only last week.”