Jewish voters in Britain have “deserted” the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, citing the party’s shift to the far-left and Corbyn’s handling of alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party.
Despite high levels of historic support for the Labour Party, during the tenure of the 70-year-old socialist Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has seen a drastic decrease in support from the Jewish population of the UK.
“Jews have deserted the Labour Party for two main reasons. First, the party has lurched to the left; and second, the party has failed to understand or recognise how antisemitism manifests itself in leftist politics and as a result allowed it to fester and grow,” Jonathan Boyd, executive director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, told The Guardian.
“To regain the support of Jewish voters, it would have to shift on both fronts: move back towards the political centre and root out the leftwing manifestations of antisemitism that exist – not only in the party itself but in wider society,” he added.
“I am proud to be a British Jew, but for the first time, it’s also unnerving. Three of my grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and this country has been so good to them. I feel privileged to be part of this country, but it is shocking to see someone like Corbyn leading one of the main political parties,” a Jewish man said in an interview with The Guardian.
Another Jewish man, a former Labour and Liberal Democrat voter, said that “British people don’t want extremism. And literally, no one I know has any time for Corbyn.”
A poll conducted in October found that just six per cent of Jewish voters in the UK would back the Labour Party in the upcoming general election, down from 11 per cent in 2017. The same poll found that nearly half of those surveyed, 47 per cent, would consider leaving the country should Jeremy Corbyn take power.
There is an ongoing investigation into allegations that the Labour Party “unlawfully discriminated against, harassed, or victimised people because they are Jewish”. Last week, 70 current and ex-Labour staffers gave testimony to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
In November the United Kingdom’s Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said that Jeremy Corbyn was unfit for office over his handling of antisemitism allegations.
“It is a failure to see this as a human problem rather than a political one. It is a failure of culture. It is a failure of leadership. A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party,” Rabbi Mirvis wrote at the time.
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