Ken Livingstone responds to recent criticism over his relationship with Jewish Londoners

At the weekend I expressed some concerns about Ken Livingstone’s relationship with the Jewish community. I talked about bridges which should have been rebuilt getting burned instead, and I urged the unifying Ken Livingstone to return. So I was pleased to see a long article from Ken in the Jewish Chronicle addressing some of the concerns that have been raised lately. Perhaps the key segment is this:

“When such controversies unfold it is easy to get dug in and appear to defend positions. I don’t wish to do this. Jewish voters are not one homogeneous block. A 2010 report for the Institute for Jewish Policy Research shows the range of Jewish voting preference. In North London Labour was the preferred party, for example.

If I believed that Jewish people won’t vote Labour in this election, and I did not value the opinions and concerns of Jewish Londoners, I would not have spent my evening at that meeting.

Jewish people have shaped London. I could not cherish London and not value Jewish London. The contribution of Jews to London is immense – politically, economically, culturally, intellectually, philanthropically, artistically. I may shoot my mouth off and I may not always appear to be listening, but I am. I am a socialist, a believer in rational thought and the rule of law. The Jewish people have laid the foundations of all of those things. Working with the Jewish community is essential to me and what I stand for. Moreover, contrary to any impression, I do explicitly see Jewish people as a people – not either a religion or an ethnicity but a people. The Tories take Jewish London for granted. I will not.”

This is the kind of response that was needed from Livingstone, and should be welcomed – I just hope that it is not too late to assuage the concerns of some who would otherwise be natural Ken supporters. The full article is over at the Jewish Chronicle website, and is well worth a read.