David Lammy joins Chief Rabbi in calling for controversial coroner to go
Tottenham MP David Lammy said it is 'very troubling' that Mary Hassell had alienated faith communities, and that her actions amounted to a 'cruel punishment'
Senior MPs have joined the Chief Rabbi in backing Jewish groups calling for the Lord Chancellor to replace a London coroner over an escalating row about burials and autopsies.
Mary Hassell, the senior coroner for Inner North London, covering Hackney, Camden, Islington and Tottenham, has resisted Jewish community pleas for her to speed up the process, given the religious importance of a prompt burial.
This week Tottenham MP David Lammy said it amounted to “cruel punishment” for families at a painful time, and backed calls for the Lord Chancellor to intervene.
“It is very troubling that [Hassell] has alienated London’s Jewish and Muslim community in such a short period of time,” he said.
“Burying a loved one is amongst the most stressful and upsetting events anyone has to go through in their life, and being unable to do so according to your religious custom and tradition is a cruel punishment on top of this.”
He added: “I support the Board of Deputies who have called on the Lord Chancellor to act and I have made representations to the Lord Chancellor [David Gauke] myself.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis had earlier said he was “extremely troubled” by what he regarded as Hassell’s failure “to give due regard to the deeply held religious beliefs of Jewish and indeed Muslim families in the area”.
In his letter to Gauke, Mirvis said Hassell “has made clear that she will not expedite the burial of a Jewish or Muslim person, even in cases where it is possible to do so… As far as I am aware, there are no other coroners, anywhere else in the country, who have taken such a stance”.
Mirvis and Lammy join the Board of Deputies and a Stamford Hill-based burial society in calling for Hassell to go, after Jewish representatives held a meeting with her last week which they described as “deeply disappointing”.
Late last year, Hassell told the Adath Yisroel Burial Society that “no death will be prioritised in any way over any other because of the religion of the deceased or family,” which Jewish leaders described as “insensitive”.
Mirvis said that while Jewish families should not be placed ahead of others, “it should go without saying that where cultural and religious needs can be met without disadvantaging anybody else, they certainly should be”.
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.
