Keir Starmer tells Piers Morgan: We’re turning the party around on antisemitism
Labour leader it 'was really important to me, the party and the country, that we dealt with antisemitism', in wide-ranging TV interview
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Labour has “begun” to deal with its antisemitism problem during a television interview with Piers Morgan.
The Labour leader told the presenter :“We had to make changes, so on things like antisemitism, it was really important to me and to the party, I think, to the country, that we dealt with antisemitism.
“We’ve begun to do that, taken some really, really important steps. We’re turning the party around.”
In a wide-ranging interview for Morgan’s ITV Life Stories series, the Labour leader spoke about his childhood, the death of his mother and his strained relationship with his father.
But when asked what he was proud of since becoming leader, Starmer referred to his work on tackling antisemitism.
Under his watch Labour have adopted all the recommendations of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report into antisemitism in the party – including the adoption of an independent complaints system for cases including those relating to anti-Jewish racism.
Some have criticised Starmer for not taking further steps to eradicate the problem of antisemitism disguised as anti-Israel criticism from some in the party.
But one recommendation of the EHRC report is that the leader removes himself from decisions around disciplinary issues, following evidence that former leader Jeremy Corbyn sought to influence decisions on antisemitism complaints while he was at the helm of the party.
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