Board of Deputies Community Briefing 4th April 2019 copy-compressed copy

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl has
written to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell
calling on him to stand down from his position as
President of the Labour Representative Committee
(LRC).
Marie wrote: “This organisation has repeatedly
defended and campaigned for individuals who have
a long history of denying the problem of
antisemitism in the Labour Party.
The LRC have actively campaigned in support of
Jackie Walker, who you will know was expelled from
the Labour Party over her comments about Jews
and the Holocaust. Indeed, she appears to remain
the LRC’s Equalities Officer.”
Read the letter here and the Jewish News report
here.
Reaction to Government home schooling register plan
The Board of Deputies has reacted to Government plans to launch a new register of children in England
who are being educated at home.
A spokesperson said: “The Board of Deputies supports high safeguarding and academic standards for all
children, wherever they are being educated. The proposed legislation, though, may be seen by some,
particularly in the Charedi community, as an encroachment on the rights of parents and religious
communities to educate their children in the environment of their choosing – especially where suitable
provisions are not in place in the state sector. We will be discussing with community stakeholders and
responding to the consultation in due course.”
Read the JC report here.
Community comments on Labour antisemitism arrests
The Board of Deputies, the Community Security Trust and Jewish Leadership Council have commented on
the arrests made by police last week in connection with Labour’s antisemitism crisis.
The statement read: “It is highly significant that the Metropolitan Police have now made three arrests in
connection with Labour’s antisemitism problem. This follows the passing of an internal Labour dossier to
Commissioner Cressida Dick by LBC Radio, regarding a single batch of 45 cases of alleged antisemitism
within the Party. We await the outcome of the investigations but ask why Labour had not itself alerted the
police. We are also concerned as to how many more cases remain unknown, and repeat our request made
one year ago to Mr Corbyn, that the party urgently appoints an independent ombudsman on such matters.”
Read the JC report here.
This week Deputies attended the first ever ‘Meet the Staff’ evening at the Board of Deputies offices. Deputies
were welcomed by Marie van der Zyl and Gillian Merron and were introduced to the staff team. They spent an