When it became clear that Labour had fallen far short of its overhyped expectations in the local elections, I tweeted this:
https://twitter.com/JournoStephen/status/992317867004657664
I would now like to retract, but only in one instance. Adam Langleben, councillor for West Hendon in Barnet, lost his seat on Thursday. Given Barnet’s sizeable Jewish population, and Labour now being the Hampstead Hezbollah, in all likelihood his party’s antisemitism cost him re-election. Which is perverse since Langleben has been one of the bravest partisans in a counter-insurgency of Jews determined to expose and expel antisemites from Labour’s ranks.
His has been a clarion voice for justice and decency in a party which has shown little of either to its Jewish members or the wider community in recent years. While the leadership provoked Jewish voters, and the bold backbenchers managed a few tersely-worded tweets, a North London borough councillor tried to give his party the moral leadership it lacks.
As for the rest, I meant every last ‘ha’. This is no time for generosity of spirit or even politeness towards Labour because, while they didn’t get what they deserved (finishing 14th behind the Somerset Twice-Daily Bin Collections Alliance), they learned that there are still men and women in this country who see them for what they are and want no part in it.
They discovered the hard way that there’s more to winning elections than whiny tweets, whinier Medium posts, and gathering your mates for a few Saturday morning selfies down the precinct of a London doughnut suburb you had to Google when someone first suggested it. Fraser Nelson is right that the Tories still have much to fear from the left but the Corbynistas now know they have much to fear from the voters.
Jewish voters did something on Thursday which far outstripped its raw electoral impact in ballsy symbolism: They stuck up for themselves. A community that has been abused, harassed, demeaned, and defamed by Labour landed a punch directly on the schnoz of their tormentors. The only thing missing was a candelabrum and a surprisingly durable supply of oil.
Stamford Hill West, the Hackney ward where 38 percent of residents are Jewish, went from one Labour and one Tory councillor to two Tories. This is despite Labour targeting Haredi voters with Yiddish leaflets and Corbynista groupies, Jewish Voice for Labour, being sent round the doors. Tory Ari Leitner ousted Labour in Kersal, in Salford, where 41 percent of locals are Jewish, while in Bury’s Pilkington Park (24 percent Jewish) voters ditched their last Labour councillor for a Tory. Barnet’s West Hendon, where one in seven are Jewish, went from three Labour councillors (including Adam Langleben) to three Conservatives. Two wards north, in Hale, where one in five are Jewish, the Tories increased their vote by nearly 2,800 to capture Labour’s last remaining seat.
Going into the election, there was little doubt in Labour minds that they would take control of Barnet. So confident were they that a victory parade through the borough was planned for today. Instead, voters returned the Tories to majority status and handed Labour its worst result in seats since 2010.
Barry Rawlings, Labour leader on the council, was candid about the problem: ‘I want to speak directly to our Jewish brothers and sisters. I am extremely grateful to members of the Jewish community who cast votes for Labour. But too many didn’t. It wasn’t because they disagreed with our manifesto, but because they felt the Labour party has failed to deal with antisemitism on a national level. They are right.’ Daniel Sugarman, who lives in Barnet, writes in the Telegraph: ‘There was a real sense that were Labour to win the borough, it would be sending a clear message to the Labour leadership that the issue of anti-Semitism didn’t matter, electorally speaking. That it could be ignored.’
Yes, we should bear in mind ward changes, local issues, and councillor performance. Even so, England’s tiny Jewish demographic — half a percent of the population — delivered a more wounding defeat to Labour than did voters in Nuneaton and Bedworth and Derby, where Labour lost overall control. Jewish voters didn’t just beat Labour, they shamed them.
I have no suggestions for how Labour can repair its relations with the Jewish community. I mean, I have plenty but I no longer see the point. Labour does not care about Jews and I see little hope of that changing under the current leadership. What I would recommend, humbly, is that Jews who turned out for the Tories on Thursday hold them to their rhetoric on antisemitism. Here are three things they might want to require from the Tories:
1) Outright proscription of Hamas and Hezbollah
2) Increased support for the Community Security Trust and further protection for Jewish schools, synagogues and cemeteries
3) A national action plan on antisemitism, expanding on the general Hate Crime Action Plan, with hard targets for reducing antisemitism-related offences and measures to address incitement at rallies, bullying in schools, and antisemitic boycotts.
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