OPINION: Transparency in politics is vital, but Westminster antisemitism body has nothing to hide
Danny Stone MBE - chief exec of the Antisemitism Policy Trust- takes issue with the 'delivery' of a database published by Sky News and Tortoise Media which analysed the financial records of his and other cross-party APPGs
I spend my days educating about antisemitism. It is a job that I find fulfilling and that I believe is important.
Specifically, the charity I run, the Antisemitism Policy Trust, focusses on educating decision makers.
One of the ways in which we do this is through the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Against Antisemitism. APPGs bring together MPs to work jointly on issues cross-party.
They undertake important work, and in many cases are supported by outside specialist organisations. Yet this week, a tool was released that unless one digs into it could be understood to present the Trust as funding individual MPs to the tune of £85,000.
There is a potential harm that accompanies such information when not fully detailed.
A key element of antisemitic conspiracy theories is often the notion that Jewish people have undue power or influence over political affairs, usually funded by money from nefarious sources.
There is a serious concern here that, without any explanation or justification of where these funds come from, or what they are used to do, it could give rise to accusations of Jewish financial control.
Those with existing antisemitic worldviews will seek to weaponise this data to try and prove something which is patently untrue.
It is one of the reasons that our charity bears a greater responsibility when seeking to maintain transparency about what the APPG Against Antisemitism does and our role for it, and why we were so grateful to have the opportunity to give evidence to the Parliamentary Standards Committee about what we do.
We have nothing to hide. Everything is declared. We follow the rules, and seek where possible to go beyond them.
Much has been written in recent weeks about APPGs, including lurid stories of MPs behaving in inappropriate ways on overseas visits with country groups. Little, if anything, has been written of the benefit of such APPGs, such as the landmark reports produced by the APPG Against Antisemitism, or the efforts made by its members to challenge tech companies, higher education institutions, or even the Houses of Parliament to put better policies in place to tackle anti-Jewish racism.
It is against that backdrop that I was so disappointed with the ‘tracker; released this week by the Tortoise media outfit and Sky. It is, without a doubt, welcome that an effort should be made to provide transparent information about money in politics. I applaud the idea; it is the delivery that I find somewhat flawed.
The APPG Against Antisemitism is staffed by the Antisemitism Policy Trust. The way the records are created is that we must declare what the approximate ‘benefit in kind’ is of that work. The Trust gives no direct funds.
The APPG does not have a bank account. MPs do not receive a salary or direct payments unless expenses are being reimbursed in some way. The Trust maintains policies on this and has a Memorandum of Understanding with the APPG (though this is not a requirement) about connected matters.
The framing of the tracker – which collates information already publicly available (in many cases with more detail than the tracker provides) – was clear. It was an “… extensive, though not comprehensive, record of the financial interests in Westminster’. A ‘first-of-its-kind database showing the scale of the money entering UK politics”. “Use our tool to search for your MP and find out who has given them money”. Indeed, the appetite to publish this more contextual narrative seems, at best, weak.
When one clicks through, there is an option to follow individual MPs. Going to Andrew Percy MP, to take a former Chair of the APPG, will show that he is or has been an officer of a number of APPGs, and that since 2019, five of them had “taken in” the equivalent of £109,500.
You will see a large circle, the largest, holding £85,500 from the Antisemitism Policy Trust.
What it does not say is that the money is our estimate of the time provided, at no taxpayer expense, to educate MPs about antisemitism through one staff member facilitating the running of the group, under the direction of its leadership, including organising meetings for the Chairs, assisting with research on anti-Jewish racism to save their offices time and so on.
It isn’t just Andrew Percy MP.
Every officer of the group has a slide linked to their name, easily understood as each member of the group having ‘taken in’ 85k from the Trust.
There is no attempt to divide the figure (which constitutes one staff member) per group officer or member. It is misleading.
It gets more complex still. The tracker is based on the period since the 2019 election, not an annual account.
Why do it this way? The reports for APPGs are lodged annually. Again, the way the tracker was first designed this information was not clear, and it took our complaining to have additional clarity added. I think it is still somewhat unclear.
However, the benefit of the group over the 3-year period, in the case of the Antisemitism Policy Trust 85k of mainly staff time, is attributed to any MP no matter whether they joined or left the group during that 3-year period (or how active they have been….). There is no mention that the trust is a charity, no link to the evidence we gave to the Standard’s Committee or even to our website.
Tortoise contacted us for the details of the APPG financial declarations – these were already on our website, in line with the rules. We sent them across, but the organisation did not ask us to explain any of them in advance. I wish they had done so.
There are other issues with the tracker that no doubt MPs will themselves be having to detail to constituents, including that donations have been made to local parties, or fees passed to charities and not touched individual MP’s accounts.
For APPGs, the lack of detail is a significant failing. Perhaps Tortoise will give every organisation and MP a right of reply on their profile pages.
We are proud of the work we do on Antisemitism with the APPG and not afraid to share the details. Particularly when it comes to Antisemitism, it is important that allegations of hidden power are not levelled or enabled where they are not true, and that a light is shone on the facts.
That requires detail and context. I’m pleased I have now been able to provide some, and hope those using the tracker do their own research too.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
