UK chief rabbi issues stark warning on consequences of Labour Party victory
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis came out strongly against the Labour Party on Monday ahead of next month’s election, expressing fear for the fate of British Jewry should Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn be elected prime minister.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of the United Kingdom speaks at a Holocaust Memorial Day event on Jan. 23, 2018. Credit: UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
In an article published on The Times website, Mirvis wrote that “just weeks before we go to the polls, the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety.”
In recent years, he said, concern over the prospect of a Labour government has overshadowed the far-right and jihadist threat in the eyes of British Jews.
“During the past few years, on my travels through the U.K. and further afield, one concern has been expressed to me more than any other. Of course, the threats of the far right and violent jihadism never go away, but the question I am now most frequently asked is: What will become of Jews and Judaism in Britain if the Labour Party forms the next government?” he said.
His realization that these concerns were justified, he said, had caused him great distress.
“This anxiety is justified. Raising concerns about anti-Jewish racism in the context of a general election ranks among the most painful moments I have experienced since taking office,” he said.
“A new poison—sanctioned from the top—has taken root in the Labour Party,” he added.
Last week, a former British Labour MP denounced the party for being “institutionally antisemitic” and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, as unfit to be Britain’s next prime minister.
Joan Ryan left the Labour Party in February, after being a member for more than 40 years, citing its tolerance of a “culture of anti-Jewish racism.”
JNS
The English have always been antisemitic.
From the expulsion in 1290, the massacre in York, the Battle of Cable Street until today, from the right wing to the loony left Jews have experienced antisemitism.
So what’s news ?!
Rabbi,
If you’re that concerned and you should be, then the solution is simple. SWITCH PARTIES. We live in a different world, so you seriously need to rethink you political position and not be stubborn and only hope things will change. They Won’t!!
It’s the same in the US and here in Australia.
Labour only gives us lip service which they have done for years and it only get’s worse.
Wake up to reality!!