At JLM conference, we will lay the foundations for our movement’s future

When the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) gathers together on Sunday for our fourth one-day conference, it is with renewed confidence, vigour and enthusiasm, fighting to make Keir Starmer Prime Minister and deliver the Labour government that the country needs and deserves.

The last time we met in person for our conference, more than three years ago, it was at an absolute nadir in our relationship with the Labour Party. Back in September 2018, we were at the height of Labour’s antisemitism crisis. We felt marginalised and ostracised by the party leadership under Jeremy Corbyn, seeking a safe space to discuss how – if – we could weather the storm. We heard a stark political warning from Gordon Brown to the labour movement about the need to take real action on antisemitism – that the “hurt it caused has got to be undone”.

What a different political context we enjoy now. Thanks to Keir, JLM members once again feel that Labour is not just a safe space, but their natural political home. His commitment from day one of his leadership to zero tolerance of antisemitism – and of anyone who downplays or denies it – backed up by a commitment to implement the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recommendations in full, has been inspiring.

Now we feel safe, secure and confident about our place as progressive Jews within Labour and can join together to discuss our ideas and aspirations for our community, for social justice here and abroad and for the party to help win power and govern effectively.

We are being joined by members and supporters from across the country and by speakers from across the world. Yes, we will be discussing antisemitism on the left, with Lord John Mann and BBC Panorama journalist John Ware amongst others. Having fought so hard to correct the toxic culture and institutional failings identified by the EHRC, we will never stop being vigilant, nor stop speaking out when the party or its members err.

But, as progressives, we care about all the issues that the Labour Party – indeed, the country – cares about, such as social care, policing, the environment, peace and prosperity. The breadth and depth of our programme on Sunday (full details here) backs that up.

We will be welcoming Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting and Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed to discuss what a progressive and winning agenda on public services should look like for Labour.

And to focus on the vital task of achieving power, we’ll hear from Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s chief campaign strategist and Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign chief, on how Labour will win the next general election. This is the first time Morgan has spoken on this in public. As well as being an honour to host him for this, it will provide fascinating insight into how the party’s election guru is approaching the election.

We’ll be discussing tackling violence against women and girls with shadow minister Jess Phillips, what our future relationship with Europe should look like with Stella Creasy, the right to protest with leading barrister Adam Wagner and refugee policy with home affairs select committee chair Diana Johnson.

And for a proper retrospective on Labour’s recent history, authors Patrick Maguire and David Kogan will debate with Jon Lansman what really happened in the party between 2015 and 2019.

Beyond domestic affairs, as we start 2023, we’ll hear former Labour Foreign Secretary David Miliband and journalist Jonathan Freedland in conversation about their view of the world today. We’ll be looking at the conflict in Ukraine with war correspondent Oz Katerji, and we’ll be asking Jewish Democrats’ executive director Halie Soifer (a former national security advisor to US Vice-President Kamala Harris) what lessons we can learn from their electoral success in the US.

And, of course, there’s Israel/Palestine. As we see the most right-wing, extremist government in Israel taking office, we will be discussing the future of the left in Israel, with Israeli Labor Leader Merav Michaeli MK and former Meretz MK Mossi Raz. This new government looks set to be hugely consequential for Jewish communities across the diaspora; we will be talking about how we shape Labour’s agenda for peace with shadow middle east minister Bambos Charalambous and speakers from Labour Friends of Israel and Yachad.

For our members, it’s always been the case that our Labour values and our Jewish values are intertwined. They speak to each other: the pursuit of social justice, protecting the environment, the importance of a decent education for everyone and a pluralist, internationalist outlook that recognises the contribution of refugees, rather than demonises them.

Contrary to the demonisation of JLM by some on the far left, we think the majority of Labour members share our values. Moreover, we think many in our Jewish community do too. Our task now is to shape our way ahead and create a lasting agenda for political change, which will bring more Jews back to trusting – and voting – Labour. Sunday’s conference will lay the foundations of that future.

Tickets for JLM’s one-day conference on January 8th are still available. Book here.