Jewish leadership organisation hits out at Sir Keir Starmer after two Labour MPs attend conference call with expelled activists

A Jewish leadership organisation has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer after it emerged that two Labour MPs had taken part in a conference call which included activists expelled from the party over alleged anti-Semitism.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has called on the new Labour leader to take “swift and decisive action” after former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and serving frontbencher Bell Ribeiro-Addy took part in the event.

Marie van der Zyl, the Board’s president, claimed the pair’s actions were a breach of the 10 anti-Semitism pledges that Sir Keir had signed up to during the Labour leadership contest earlier this year.

One of the pledges states clearly that any Labour politician or member that campaigns or provides a platform for people suspended or expelled over anti-Semitism should themselves be suspended.

In a clear warning to Sir Keir, Ms van der Zyl added: “It is completely unacceptable that Labour MPs, and even ordinary members, should be sharing platforms with those that have been expelled from the Party for anti-Semitism.

“We would urge Labour to take swift and decisive action to show that this is a new era, rather than a false dawn.”

However, in a statement issued on Thursday, a Labour spokesman said that it had been made clear to the MPs in the “strongest possible terms” that several of the participants in the call had previously made comments that were “completely unacceptable” and were “not people who support the values” of the party.

“They [Ms Abbott and Ms Ribeiro-Addy] are being reminded of their responsibilities and obligations,” the spokesman added.

A former Labour minister criticised the party’s response, telling The Telegraph: “When Keir Starmer signed up to the Board of Deputies pledges he promised to tear anti-Semitism out by its roots.

“This is a clear cut case [of failing to abide by the pledges] and it looks like he’s failed at the first hurdle.”

The row threatens to undermine the progress Sir Keir has made in repairing relations with the Jewish community, with a number of senior figures, including the Chief Rabbi, praising his early efforts.

It comes after Ms Abbott and Ms Riberio-Addy were found to have addressed an online meeting of hard-Left activists on Wednesday evening, using the video communications app Zoom.

The call was also attended by controversial activists Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein, both of whom were expelled under Jeremy Corbyn’s regime.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, both Ms Abbott and Ms Ribeiro-Addy spoke about a recently leaked internal party report on Labour’s handling of anti-Semitism, which accused moderate ex-officials of undermining Mr Corbyn’s effort to tackle the problem.

They then remained connected to the meeting as Ms Walker and other activists spoke, including one who reportedly claimed that the former London mayor Ken Livingstone had been expelled from Labour for speaking “truth in a historical statement.”

He had in fact claimed publicly that Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism during the early years of his reign before he “went made and ended up killing six million Jews.”

On Thursday a spokesman for Ms Abbott and Ms Ribeiro-Addy said: “The MPs were not aware that any suspended or expelled former members of the Labour Party might contribute as audience members. They did not and would not share a platform with them.

"Both MPs are long-standing anti-racist campaigners and are known for standing up to all forms of bigotry.”