Labour of Love?” was an apt headline that appeared in Mishpacha a few months ago, questioning whether Jeremy Corbyn’s departure from leadership of Britain’s Labour Party would end the anti-Semitism that has infected the party.
So if it weren’t for the devastation that corona virus is now wreaking on Britain’s Jewish community, more would probably be made of the weekend election of Sir Keir Starmer to replace Jeremy Corbyn as head of the country’s main opposition party.
Starmer’s victory looks like the beginning of a positive answer to that question; a comeback for the moderates who were sidelined under the hard-left, Israel-hating clique that took control in 2015, and an end to the nightmare scenario of anti-Semites a heartbeat away from 10 Downing Street.
In his acceptance speech after winning the leadership, Starmer apologized for “anti-Semitism’s stain on our party”, and pledged to “tear out this poison by its roots.” Significantly, the new Labour leader wrote immediately to the Board of Deputies, a Jewish communal organization that had come out forcefully against Corbyn, vowing to take “decisive action” to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.
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