Key political representatives in Liverpool heard from Louise Ellman, former Liverpool Riverside MP, about her experiences with antisemitism in the city, as part of a Strategic Engagement and Relationship Building Roundtable held this past weekend.
The Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council brought together MPs, council cabinet members, Merseyside police and the local Jewish community. The meeting was called to empower the Merseyside Jewish community to engage further with Merseyside Police, MPs and councils to foster positive relationships and build a wider support network to react to antisemitism and celebrate Jewish life in Merseyside.
Dame Louise spoke as part of a panel discussion chaired by Board of Deputies Vice President Andrew Gilbert, which also featured local MPs Matt Patrick and Minister of State for Employment Alison McGovern, who described how Dame Louise had been her mentor and guide when she was first elected. The panel focused on antisemitism in Merseyside: what has been done and what more can be done. Dame Louise spoke movingly about her years as an MP – and the struggles she faced from the far-left in the city during the years when Jeremy Corbyn left the Labour Party. This included abuse and harassment, as well as far-left activists who set out to damage community relationships that she had built through her work helping refugees to the UK.
Andrew Gilbert also chaired a panel on policing, cohesion and resilience featuring Chief Superintendent of Merseyside Police Zoe Thornton, Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell and the Community Security Trust (CST)’s Jonny Newton.
The JLC’s Director of Public Affairs Russell Langer chaired the closing discussion on Israel and the British Jewish community. Josh Cohen from the UJS gave the perspective of Jewish students on campus over the last year while Board of Deputies Vice President Jeremy Michelson spoke on religious education.
During the roundtable the local Jewish communities in Merseyside were able to communicate directly with councillors, MPs and police leaders. They fed in their concerns and built or enhanced relationships which will help the community become more resilient.
Speaking about the panel event, Dame Louise, who also serves as the Board’s Independent Plenary Chair, said:
“This roundtable provided an important opportunity for public representatives in Merseyside to hear first hand about the appalling antisemitism that drove not just me out of the party in 2019, but other Jewish colleagues too. I rejoined the party in 2021 after Keir Starmer committed to rooting out antisemitism. We must, however, remain vigilant about antisemitism whatever its source”
Commenting on the roundtable, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Andrew Gilbert, said “This was the first of our regional Strategic Engagement and Relationship Building Roundtables. Despite the work done by the Labour Party to reduce antisemitism within the party, there is still a concern of residual antisemitism in Merseyside: whether that be within Labour albeit now more common among the Green Party and Independents. Hearing from Dame Louise Ellman and sitting Merseyside MPs Alison McGovern and Matthew Patrick, was informative and educational due to how they set out the recent history and current challenges”.
“Our session with Merseyside Jewish Representative Council President Barry Levene that focused on community assurance with the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Superintendent of Merseyside Police and CST, showed a confident local community but also appraised the concerns of the community”