Murray apologises to Jewish community on behalf of Labour

Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary has apologised for the “appalling” way the party treated the Jewish community.

In a letter to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC), Ian Murray offered a “heartfelt and meaningful apology” and said that rebuilding their trust in the Labour Party was a top priority for both him and newly-elected leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Writing to SCoJeC chairwoman Micheline Brannan and director Ephraim Borowski to wish the Scottish Jewish community a Chag Pesach Sameach, Murray describes anti-Semitism as “the moral issue of our time in the party”.

Murray said that he never again wanted any Jewish person to feel unwelcome in the Labour Party or fear that the party would “make the country a more dangerous place for them”.

“I offer a heartfelt and meaningful apology for the appalling way the Labour Party has treated the Jewish community,” he said.

Murray added: “I would be very keen to continue the dialogue we started last month with a Zoom call at some point over the coming weeks, to bring you up to date on how the Labour Party will be positively engaging with the Jewish community in future.”

Following his victory as Labour leader, Sir Keir used his acceptance speech to condemn the “stain” of anti-Semitism on the party and pledged to “tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us”.

On Tuesday, Jewish leaders praised Sir Keir for having “achieved in four days more than his predecessor in four years”, with his steps to tackle anti-Semitism in the party.

Sir Keir, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn, spoke to Jewish community leaders over Skype, along with deputy leader Angela Rayner and told the meeting he had asked for all outstanding investigations into anti-Semitism within the party to be “on my desk at the end of the week”.