Keir Starmer thanks Jewish Labour Movement members for “saving the party”

Keir Starmer has thanked members at the Jewish Labour Movement conference for “saving the party”, saying any of the party’s future success is “down to you”.

The Labour leader used a speech to pledge he will “never let antisemitism sneak back into the Labour party undercover” and sees “no greater cause” than stopping it, adding that the party at its best is “the vanguard of social cohesion” more widely.

The event also saw Keir Starmer appear on stage alongside Jewish former Labour MP Luciana Berger, who will lead a mental health strategy review for the party. Labour meanwhile announced today that in power it would train mental health professionals to support those who self-harm.

Speaking at the annual JLM event in London, Starmer pledged that “this country will be safe for you and your children”, acknowledging a “pulse of fear still beating in your community” since Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7th.

He said Jews could see “hate marching side by side with calls for peace”, and “people who hate Jews hiding behind those who support the just cause of the Palestinian state”.

“Some members of this community still need to see more from us”

Starmer told the audience was “humbling” to be at this event, and that it “hardly seems possible that four years ago we would be in this place”.

He is “forever grateful” for being given the “space” needed when he took over as leader to take action, and that he was proud of the work Labour had done so far but he acknowledged “some members of this community still need to see more from us”.

He said “the work goes on”, and the test is “whether those we have hurt so much had the faith to come back”, though it was not for him to say if it had passed or not.

“Whether you left or stayed, you were all fighting for our values, and I will never be able to thank you enough”.

The phrase “saving the party” is often over-used and used “glibly”, he said, but “in all candour, we know that is exactly what you did.”

Any future success the party enjoys this year or in future years, future achievements, the “British we will build together…that is also down to you”.

“On behalf of the Labour party again, I say – thank you.”

Labour can be ‘vanguard of social cohesion’

Starmer is big guest at Jewish Labour Movement one day conference. Main hall is so full there are two overspill rooms, standing room only. Really enjoyed being part of an honest but constructive panel discussion on community relations in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/KgG6pDaQ0H

— Ayesha Hazarika (@ayeshahazarika) January 14, 2024

Starmer said Labour had to be ready to deal with social “faultlines that run through Britain communities” in “volatile times”, drawing deep on “those values of respect”.

He said he was “concerned that what I thought went deep” on inter-faith work “isn’t strong enough to withstand the pressures that are now upon different communities”, and that is “a lesson for me” that it needs be done more “deeply”.

The Labour party at its best is at “the vanguard of social cohesion”, “resisting division”, “trying at every level of the party to understand each other”.

“We must commit, no matter the challenges or the political convenience, to a politics of the common good, politics that brings the communities of this country together behind a plan.

“But also, understand that a nation is not just a collection of individuals. There are also things we owe to each other as equal citizens like dignity, understanding, and most of all, respect – and respect that might ask you without fail to moderate your political wishes, out of respect for the wishes. of others, even if, in fact, especially if you’re in the majority.”

“That’s what national unity we’ve had over the decades. It’s why Britain’s modern, diverse democracy is envied around the world.”

Starmer noted that people of different faiths living side by side was “so ordinary it’s barely remarked upon”, interfaith marriages were common, and there was an “atmosphere of respect for things other people hold dear”, and a “pride in our distinction but commitment to contributing to the common good”.

“We don’t stop and reflect on how unusual that is.” It presents an “existential challenge to those who say it can’t be done”, but it is the “British way, and my Labour party will always fight for it”.

He said Labour is the party which helped bring together once-divided working-class communities in areas like Glasgow and Liverpool, “towards a politics of the common good” – a phrase he used several times.

Elsewhere, Starmer said Britain would have to “fight for a two-state solution in ways we haven’t for years”, and the “era of lip service and complacency must end”.

Next election not a ‘done deal’

Starmer also said the next general election “isn’t a done deal”, and Labour would “leave nothing to chance”. The party will stay focused, disciplined, and he urged the audience to “do the same”.

Starmer was speaking at the JLM’s annual one-day conference alongside JLM national chair Mike Katz, former Labour MP Luciana Berger and prospective parliamentary candidate Sarah Sackman in Finchley and Golders Green.

Katz had started the session by highlighting the progress made by Labour in tackling antisemitism, but saying work was “not done and never will be”.

He said Starmer had “never faltered” in his efforts to stamp it out, but “the past weeks have shown us why he must always be vigilant to ensure the poison of antisemitism doesn’t creep back into Labour”.

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