Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks calls Labour antisemitism “a genuine stain on the fabric of British political life”

In a wide-ranging interview in The Sunday Times, the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, has described antisemitism within the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to address it as “a genuine stain on the fabric of British political life.”

Lamenting that “when I see antisemitism returning to Europe and the failure of some parties and politicians to confront it, I find it very difficult to find faith in human beings,” Rabbi Sacks also declared that he stands by his previous comments about Labour, including describing Mr Corbyn as an “antisemite”.

Rabbi Sacks explained: “I think some of the antisemitism was hidden and it’s simply become liberated from the constraints of various taboos”. He went on to express disgust at how antisemitism in the Labour Party has been allowed to fester: “To find something as manifestly evil as antisemitism and not deal with it? Jews must not be left to fight antisemitism alone.”

Rabbi Sacks’ wife, Lady Sacks, added that “there is certainly more antisemitism now than there was twenty years ago. It’s in the papers every day, it’s extraordinary. Recently, one of our friends was leaving the synagogue with his two sons and a man harangued them, said ‘you Jew’ and swore at them. The kids always looked forward to going to synagogue with their dad and now they are nervous to go.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, twelve MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 55,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”