I’m voting for Lisa Nandy because she understands antisemitism in Labour

I joined the party as an idealistic and enthusiastic 16-year-old, shortly after Jeremy Corbyn’s first election as leader. I wanted to make a difference and change the world. I felt that the Labour Party was the best vehicle for me to do just that.

I had heard concerns about antisemitism from my own community, but I ignored them. I was a young and optimistic Jewish girl, and I threw myself into campaigning. Then, suddenly, Ken Livingstone started talking about Hitler, and those concerns seemed to have been considered acceptable, or even legitimate, in the party. By the end of 2016, it had quickly become apparent to me that Labour had a real problem with antisemitism, and things only got worse from there. The constant escalation of the crisis left my membership hanging by a thread and left Labour being investigated by the EHRC.

I welcomed Lisa Nandy’s announcement that she was standing for leader with cautious optimism. She comes from a similar Labour tradition to me, but more importantly, she has always been an ally of the Jewish community. Unlike others, who now lament that too little was done, she spoke out when it was hard. ‘I like her politics,’ I thought, ‘and she is pretty good on antisemitism’.

But I, like many, underestimated her dogged commitment to tackling antisemitism and was blown away by the depth of her understanding. Nandy is the only candidate to produce a detailed plan of how to tackle antisemitism. It is a reflection of the last four years that this document brought tears to my eyes.

It shows that she gets it on a fundamental level. She gets what left-wing antisemitism is and how it is manifested. She gets how the disciplinary process works – and doesn’t work – and how it has been corrupted. And she gets the radical change that is needed to save the party from the grip of anti-Jewish racism.

Nandy also gets how fundamental tackling antisemitism is for the future of the Labour Party. You could feel the emotion in the room as she made her opening speech at the Jewish Labour Movement hustings. In less than five minutes, the audience trusted that she would eradicate the antisemitism in our midst.

She has a level of bravery and integrity rarely found in politics. When the Labour Party briefed against the Panorama whistleblowers, who were brave enough to break gagging orders to uncover corruption within the disciplinary process, Nandy was one of the few who spoke up for them at the time. At the JLM hustings she went further, describing them as “brave” and “showing true loyalty” to Labour values.

The Labour Party that I want to see is not a party that attacks those who dare to speak out about institutional failings. The party I want is one that celebrates whistleblowers, celebrates those who are brave enough to speak out about wrong doing. And that’s a party that Nandy would lead.

Lisa Nandy’s campaign is based on the hard, honest truth that ‘if we do not change, we die’. She recognises this applies as much to antisemitism as anything else. This leadership election gives us an opportunity to start the process of eradicating the institutional antisemitism in Labour.

For the last five years, there’s been a constant battle of conscience for me between my Jewishness and my Labour values, and I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the guilt of putting an ‘X’ in the Labour box in elections. Lisa Nandy standing changes this.

For the first time in a long time, I do not feel as if I must choose between my Jewish identity or my political values. I can proudly vote for her in the leadership contest, not just because of her stance on antisemitism, but because she is best placed to take our party forward. And I would be proud to campaign for her to become our next Labour Prime Minister.