In October 2020, Jeremy Corbyn—under whose prior leadership the British Labor party had become a cesspool of anti-Semitism—was suspended from the party altogether after saying that anti-Semitism among its members was “dramatically overstated.” His successor, Keir Starmer, has since tried to rectify the situation, and has made multiple overtures to the Jewish community. In an interview, Jake Wallis Simmons challenged Starmer about his longstanding fealty to Corbyn as well as his plans to make Labor more welcoming to Jews.
Would Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer be, as they say, “good for the Jews”? Since the Corbyn years, this has become an inevitable question. And it is possible to argue that he would.
Sir Keir and his Jewish wife, Victoria, are members of St. John’s Wood Liberal Synagogue and are bringing their children up with a sense of Jewish identity. He has repeatedly vowed to tear out anti-Semitism “by the roots.” When we met on Monday in a comically cramped cloakroom in a nursery in Harrow, he made a point of mentioning that he had extended family in Israel.
Yet for much of the community, the jury remains firmly out on the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service. A recent poll has suggested that 65 percent of Jews still find Labor unwelcoming, as the shadow of Corbynism continues to darken local branches. It darkens parts of the opposition benches in Parliament as well. It’s hard to forget that Sir Keir was one of Jeremy Corbyn’s longest-serving shadow-cabinet members, clocking up 1,559 days under his leadership. In July 2019, he said he had “full confidence” in Mr. Corbyn as—believe it or not—the right man to root out Jew-hatred in the party.
Read more on Jewish Chronicle: https://www.thejc.com/news/politics/israel-is-not-an-apartheid-state-says-keir-starmer-as-he-apologises-for-the-corbyn-years-5tTeGqYxJE3DmQdQI2WIss