Keir Starmer: ‘It’s not for me to determine whether I have done enough’
EXCLUSIVE: The Labour leader visits the home of Jewish couple Sam Cohen and Natalie Grazin to deliver a moving Pesach message to the community
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Sir Keir Starmer has been filmed inside the home of a Jewish couple as they prepare for Passover where he is told: “There is a total alignment between the values I take to be Labour values and the values of Judaism.”
In the Labour leader’s Pesach message to the Jewish community, which will be released by the party on Thursday, Starmer also addresses the antisemitism row, as he is told the couple were unable to vote for the party at the last General Election.
“The test for me of whether we have done enough, is whether those that left feel they can come back,” Starmer is filmed saying in the video, aired by Jewish News in advance of its release.
“It’s not for me to determine whether I have done enough.”
Elsewhere the couple, Sam Cohen and Natalie Grazin, related the Pesach story to the plight of refugees desperately escaping Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan.
The couple live in Finchley and are both active members of New North London Synagogue.
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“Whether it’s from Syria, Afghanistan or obviously Ukraine, people leaving without having time to do things, just picking up and going, that’s the story of Pesach,” the Labour leader is told.
Starmer is filmed sitting around the table confirming his family “will be doing” a Seder night, adding “my wife’s dad is Jewish.”
He confirms he has the “whole unboxing experience” as Passover preparations are made.
The Labour leader also scans newly discovered photographs of family members who “didn’t make it through the Holocaust.”
At the end of the video, Starmer is praised by both women for his efforts on antisemitism.
He is told by one of the pair that Labour has “really begun to look like a party that is ready to be government.”
Cohen is a second generation holocaust survivor whose mother arrived in the UK from Germany in August 1939. She is one of the founders of the Yellow Candle Project in the UK.
Grazin grew up in Leeds and is a Trustee of Limmud and a former Chair of Governors of Alma Primary.
In a statement they told Jewish News:”It was the most incredible surprise to be asked to meet Kier and wonderful to welcome him into our home. He was exceptionally warm and friendly and brilliant with our kids.
“We didn’t need to explain much about Pesach because he already knew so much through his wife and her family. We compared notes on his and our family Seder traditions, having family in Israel and life during lockdown. Our son Eden hid a pretend Afikoman and Kier was a good sport and thankfully found it.
“In addition to talking about Pesach and the ongoing work to eliminate antisemitism within the Labour Party, we talked about climate change, what it’s like doing PMQs and of course Arsenal vs Spurs. It was a surreal experience and a genuine pleasure.”
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