Board raises ‘deep concern’ about Labour over antisemitism ahead of conference
'Since the last party conference, Labour has utterly failed to achieve any meaningful progress on antisemitism in the party,' Board President said today
As the Labour Party prepares for its annual conference this weekend, the Board of Deputies has raised “deep” concern about its handling of antisemitism allegations.
Over 1,200 delegates, 2,800 members and 11,000 visitors are expected to gather in Brighton tomorrow for the five-day conference lasting until next Wednesday.
In a statement, Board president Marie van der Zyl described “deep and ongoing concerns” about the event.
“Since the last party conference, Labour has utterly failed to achieve any meaningful progress on antisemitism in the party,” she said on Friday.
“The leadership, including, Jeremy Corbyn, seems determined to let this disease flourish in the remains of a party which used to be a great, progressive force.”
This comes it was revealed Labour would be debating proposed changes to its handling of complaints during Shabbat, sparking concern from the Jewish Labour Movement, which warned observant delegates would be unable to participate.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary group Labour Friends of Israel announced it would be pulling its stand from the event over security concerns, citing incidents in previous years.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party is taking decisive and robust action to root out antisemitism. Since last year’s conference, we have increased the rate at which antisemitism cases are dealt with more than four-fold, we have launched an education programme to deepen understanding about antisemitism among our members, and Jeremy Corbyn has proposed a fast-tracked expulsion process, to further speed up our procedures.
“Thousands of Labour members from across the country will come together for conference to debate our policies that we will take into the next General Election so we can transform our society so that it works for the many, not just a few.”
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