OPINION: We need to support and have faith in this new government
It felt slightly surreal greeting a new Labour PM outside Downing Street, writes JLM's Mike Katz
As I waited in Downing Street last Friday lunchtime with dozens of sleep-deprived but jubilant Labour staffers and activists to greet our new Prime Minister, Labour’s emphatic victory had yet to properly sink in.
Hardly surprising, given that less than five years ago Labour had sunk to an 80-year low, weighed down in no small part by then-leader Jeremy Corbyn’s inability and unwillingness to take action on the crisis of antisemitism that had infected it.
Making Labour electable again looked like the work of at least a decade. So to see it actually happen, to shake the hand of our new Labour PM as sunlight broke through the rain clouds, did feel slightly surreal.
But change was a proof point more than a slogan: the Party had been changed, to give it the chance to change the country.
An indispensable part of that change was Keir Starmer’s determination to stamp out antisemitism. A moral crusade that delivered a strong political message.
It hasn’t always been an easy process making the cultural, political and institutional changes called for by the independent Equality and Human Rights Commission, in its unprecedented report which was instigated by the Jewish Labour Movement complaint and which found Labour guilty of breaking equalities law against Jews.
Nonetheless they were made and the Commission took the Party out of special measures last year.
Antisemitism is a light sleeper, and we know we can never stop being vigilant – as we’ve seen since the terrorist atrocity on 7th October, which led to an immediate spike in antisemitism before a single IDF boot had set foot in Gaza.
But, unlike in the Corbyn years, this isn’t purely a product of bad actors in the Labour Party. It’s a problem for society, and a problem we all need to fix.
There’s undoubtedly pressure from parts of the left and within British Muslim communities for Labour to take a more aggressive stance on this conflict.
Indeed, its failure to do so cost Labour a handful of seats, with independent pro-Gaza candidates profiting from the Party’s refusal to play student politics with foreign policy.
But Labour’s position will continue to be consistent with that of the previous Government and, more significantly, that of the US. Hostages must be released, we need both a ceasefire and humanitarian aid as a prelude to a long-term, two-state peace deal.
Labour’s manifesto reiterated its commitment to recognising a Palestinian state only “as a contribution to a renewed peace process” – not unilaterally, or as a ‘first 100 days’ stunt.
Labour also faces pressure from Reform: in all but nine of the 98 seats where Nigel Farage’s party came second, it was to Labour. No doubt some Jews did vote for them, but their siren voices mask the toxicity of their base.
This is a party which defended one of its candidates who said Britain shouldn’t have fought the Nazis, instead of dropping him like a stone.
Reform do not have the Jewish community’s interests at heart; any allyship they might seem to show is forged purely of political expediency, not of any fidelity or respect for us.
Instead we need to support and have faith in this new Government as it traces a path between extremes on both left and right.
Keir Starmer has proven time and time again that he has our backs. Whether it’s rejecting antisemitic candidates, even if it means sacrificing seats; or rejecting Tory attacks when he insists on celebrating Friday nights with his Jewish wife and family.
He understands the difficult times we live in. He has called anti-Zionist antisemitism the “antithesis of the Labour tradition”.
At JLM’s flagship conference earlier this year, he said when the community sees people who hate Jews, hiding behind people who support the just cause of a Palestinian state on marches and rallies, “we see what you see
“so let me assure you we will never let antisemitism sneak back into the Labour Party undercover.”
In short, when he said in Downing Street that he would govern as he campaigned, always putting country before Party, we can trust that our new PM will deal with our community the only way we’ve ever wanted. Fairness, not favours.
Mike Katz is national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement
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