Jewish leaders say Keir Starmer has already done more than Jeremy Corbyn to tackle anti-Semitism
Newly-elected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arrives at BBC Broadcasting House. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Wire. - Credit: PA
Jewish leaders have praised new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for having 'achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years' with his steps to tackle anti-Semitism in the party.
Sir Keir, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader on Saturday after convincingly winning a three-month leadership contest, spoke to Jewish leaders over Skype, along with deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner.
The former shadow Brexit secretary has asked for all the outstanding anti-Semitism cases to be 'on my desk at the end of the week', while also vowing to set up an independent complaints process.
The Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl, Jewish Leadership Council chairman Jonathan Goldstein, Community Security Trust chairman Gerald Ronson and Jewish Labour Movement chairman Mike Katz issued a joint statement following the online meeting.
They said: 'While we would have fully understood the need to focus entirely on coronavirus at this time, Keir Starmer has already achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years in addressing anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.
You may also want to watch:
'As we discussed with Keir and Angela, we want to have a normal relationship with Labour whereby we can discuss the full range of issues affecting our community, from religious freedom to Israel, from Jewish schools to poverty, from refugees to the environment - and not just anti-Semitism.'
'This has certainly been a good start. If the new Labour leadership continues in this way, we can work together to make the changes that will make Labour a proudly anti-racist party once again.'
Most Read
- 1 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 2 Brexiteer musician accused of hypocrisy after demanding No 10 help bands with EU visa
- 3 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 4 PMQs: Ben Bradshaw calls out Boris Johnson over Brexit lies
- 5 ‘Don’t haste ye back’ - Nicola Sturgeon's perfect farewell message to Donald Trump
- 6 Piers Morgan calls on Priti Patel to resign over missing crime records fiasco
- 7 Tory MPs vote down Lords bid to protect NHS from post-Brexit trade deals
- 8 9 of the best tweets of Donald Trump leaving the White House
- 9 Boris Johnson narrowly avoids defeat over vote on trade deals with genocidal regimes
- 10 Trump caller hangs up on James O'Brien after failing to cite ex-president's 'truths'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.