New poll reveals majority of Jewish Labour Party members do not find other local members friendly and welcoming
A new poll has revealed that 65% of Jewish members of the Labour Party do not find other local members friendly and welcoming.
In a poll of 2,890 people carried out by the Fabian Society in August, 65% of Jewish respondents disagreed with the claim that other local members are all friendly and welcoming, a new report has found, which was the highest proportion of any group, including LGBT, under-35s, women and other ethnic minority members.
One member told the pollsters:: “I was asked questions [by fellow local members] about my loyalty and affiliations and memberships because I am Jewish. Other candidates were not asked these questions.”
Another worried that their candidacy for office might be blocked because of their membership of the Party’s Jewish affiliate.
The survey was open and promoted through blogs, social media and organisations affiliated to the Labour Party, and its authors noted that those polled were “not designed to be representative of the membership as a whole.”
Since the poll was carried out, the Labour Party has endorsed a new semi-independent disciplinary process, although it has not yet been implemented.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Keir [Starmer]’s relentless focus since his election as leader has been on positively changing the Labour Party. Thanks to the significant progress made, we are proving to the public that we understand and are acting on their priorities. This progress includes rebuilding our relationship with the Jewish community, and demonstrating wholeheartedly that only Labour is the party of equality and opportunity for our members and the country. We are committed to taking our dedicated membership with us at every step.”
The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
