Many Jews who felt unwelcome at past party gatherings look to the new leadership to turn the page on a painful period
As the Labour party conference begins in Brighton, I find it difficult to avoid a feeling of trepidation.
The last few Labour conferences to take place in person were all marked by incidents that appeared to indicate to most Jews that they were extremely unwelcome. Whether that was the then Unite general secretary Len McCluskey in 2017 dismissing antisemitism within Labour as “mood music created by people trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn”, or the sight of Luciana Berger in 2018 being accompanied by police protection, or the antisemitic posters and flyers outside the conference centre in 2019, the atmosphere has felt markedly unpleasant for many Jewish people.
