UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s work ridding the party of antisemitism has received the endorsement of a large majority of members of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM).
Close to three quarters of the organization said in a recent JLM survey that they were satisfied with Starmer’s efforts to clean up antisemitism within the party in the post-Jeremy Corbyn era and that Labour was now a “safe space” for Jews, the UK Jewish News reported.
The survey also found that 70 percent of the group’s members felt that the antisemitism scandals Labour had faced “reinforced the importance of [their] Jewish identity.”
Over 90 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement “I trust that Keir Starmer is genuinely trying to tackle antisemitism” while less than three percent felt that was the case under Corbyn.
Nearly 90 percent of those polled also agreed with the statement “Over the past 12 months, the Labour Party has made positive changes to its policies, processes, rules and culture in relation to antisemitism.”
Nearly 30 percent of respondents said they had left Labour under Corbyn due to antisemitism scandals.
Nearly 95 percent disagreed with the statement “Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership I trusted the Labour Party to tackle antisemitism.”
The survey, the largest to tackle the subject of antisemitism within Labour under Starmer’s leadership, was given out to almost 400 Jewish members of the organization, along with 200 non-Jewish members
“Our members are clear: Keir Starmer has made the Labour Party feel like safe place for Jews once again. The vast majority trust him to tackle antisemitism in the party and think the party reforms he’s introduced will make a difference,” said JLM chair Mike Katz.
“For our Jewish members, the difference between Corbyn’s Labour and Starmer’s is like night and day. In under two years, he’s transformed the party,” Katz added.