Anti-Semitism

Lord Mann Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

It gives me no pleasure whatever to introduce this short debate on anti-Semitism. The whole aim of the all-party group against anti-Semitism is eventually to be able to remove ourselves from the political agenda because there is no need for us, but I fear that none of us in this room will have the pleasure of seeing such a day.

Things have not improved over the past year. During the summer of 2014, the significant escalation of violence in the middle east provoked a major increase in anti-Semitic attacks in the UK and across the world. Anti-Semitic incidents reached record levels in July, when the Community Security Trust recorded the highest ever monthly total of such incidents in the UK. The trust has been keeping records since 1984, and over the past two years it has exchanged data with various police forces to improve respective accuracy. In July, 302 incidents were recorded, which represents an increase of more than 400% from the 59 incidents that were recorded in July 2013. By comparison, 304 incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2014. Before July, the highest ever monthly total had been for January 2009, which also coincided with a period of conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Of the 302 recorded incidents, 51% involved direct reference to the ongoing conflict. All incidents require the recording of evidence of anti-Semitic language, targeting or motivation alongside any anti-Israel sentiments. Of the anti-Semitic incidents recorded in July, 101 involved the use of language or imagery relating to the holocaust, and 25 of those showed evidence of far-right political motivation or beliefs. Most commonly, references to Hitler or the holocaust were used to taunt or offend Jews, often in relation to events in Israel and Gaza. Of the 302 incidents, 25% took place on social media.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this much needed debate. Does he agree that the real number of incidents is far greater even than the terrible figures that he is reading out, because many people do not report them out of fear? I report such things, and only the other week I received a phone call in which I was called a dirty Jew and told that I should be stoned to death.

[John Mann]

Without question, the recorded number of incidents is a significant underestimate. It is valuable in itself and as a benchmark for comparing trends, because the basis of recording by the CST is without question the world best. It is renowned across the world for being so. Trends can be easily identified from those figures, and the trend this year has been a huge increase. That is why I applied for this debate.

I will give hon. Members some examples of what I am talking about. On a march through central London, demonstrators verbally abused a Jewish woman who was with her two children, telling them to “burn in hell.” The reality for British Jews is that most are Zionist, with various levels of emotional and familial attachment to Israel, so the communal concern about Israel and conflict-associated anti-Semitism is significant. Of course, supporting the Palestinian cause is not anti-Semitic, but when someone shouts “Child murderer” at a British Jew, or daubs that on a synagogue, that is anti-Semitism.

Open anti-Semitism is rare in mainstream politics and media, but hateful expressions and ideas that would not be publicly directed against Jews are now publicly directed against Zionists. Zionists are depicted in the same way as Jews are by the anti-Semites: malevolent, all-powerful, all-controlling, covert and inauthentic. Hate speech against Zionists leads to the demonisation and hatred of all suspected Zionists—in other words, Jews. That may not be intentionally anti-Semitic from a perpetrator’s perspective, but it has a negative impact on most British Jews. The same is true when Members of this House speak in such a way. They are not simply being irresponsible; they are being potentially dangerous.

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

I agree with the chair of the all-party group on anti-Semitism, of which I am a member, on the need for proper care in relation to the words that we use. It is possible to foment anti-Semitic thoughts and actions, particularly when people talk about Zionism and a financial lobby. Does that not raise concerns about going down the path of anti-Semitism?

[John Mann]

The hon. Gentleman is active in the work of the all-party group and in Parliament, and he is absolutely right. It is easy to see where the dividing line is and what is inappropriate. One of our big successes in recent years is that each political party in the House has been prepared to deal with issues involving its own Members. That approach, if it can be maintained, is precisely the way in which such things are most effectively challenged. In other words, it is important not to make offensive remarks—whether they are made out of deliberate prejudice or ignorance—into issues of party political point scoring, but to get each party to sort its own house out.

That is easy to say, but I think we underestimate the power of that model and the power of the cross-party consensus that we have built in this House. Let me and my party deal with those who are anti-Semitic or who ignorantly cross the threshold in what they say, do or write, and let the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative party and other parties in the House do the same. That is an effective way of taking a lead in tackling anti-Semitism. I would call it the British model, in the sense that others across the world are increasingly convinced that that is how anti-Semitism should be dealt with at high levels in Parliament and Government.

The Minister will know well of the all-party group’s inquiry into anti-Semitism in the UK in 2005-06, which made 35 recommendations for Government, Parliament and civil society. I am pleased to report that, in my judgment, we have worked successfully with the Government, Ministers and other partners to implement the inquiry recommendations and to go beyond them.

Our successes have included the establishment of a unique Whitehall Government working group on anti-Semitism; an agreement for all police forces to record anti-Semitic hate crimes; the publication by the police of the first official anti-Semitic hate crime statistics; a funding agreement for the security needs of Jewish faith schools in the state system; a Crown Prosecution Service review and action plan; the creation of a Government-backed school-linking programme; research into modern discursive anti-Semitism funded by the Government; the appointment of a UK envoy for post-holocaust issues; two ministerial conferences and international action plans on internet hate, and I believe that there will be another one in the near future; the highly effective international replication of the all-party group inquiry model in countries such as Germany and Canada; a full inquiry into electoral conduct and resultant action from key agencies; and work with Government that has led, among other successes, to the publication of a guide by the Society of Editors to editing online newspaper comment boards. Those successes are significant, but they leave no room for complacency, not least because of the increase this year in the scourge of anti-Semitism.

In September, I instigated a parliamentary report on anti-Semitism emanating from the conflict in the middle east, with a number of events across the country to meet Jewish communities and better understand their anguish. There is a further such event this Thursday in Manchester. Evidence has been submitted by individuals, organisations, the police, Government bodies and others, and MPs have visited France, Germany, Holland and Ireland to undertake comparative analyses. We intend to launch the report in the new year with an event at Lambeth palace, courtesy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which in itself is significant in crossing faiths to stand up to anti-Semitism. I congratulate the Church of England on its openness to such work, including with our group.

The recommendations are the most important issues emanating from the report, and I want to be sure that they will be carefully considered by Ministers and referred to the cross-Government working group on anti-Semitism for action. I would like a commitment from all parties that, whoever wins the next election, in whatever combination, the next Government will work on anti-Semitism throughout the next Parliament, because the problem is not going away.

[Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. I also pay tribute to his great work in this field. I was recently privileged to join him on the visit over the Irish sea. I sincerely hope that the next Government is a Conservative Government, but he says that, if there is a Labour Government, he would work towards that goal. Does he not agree that it is very disappointing that, apart from the shadow Minister and himself, no other Labour Member is in attendance today?

[John Mann]

Members from all parties have been involved in our work, which is fundamental. In this House we must not fall into the trap, as some European countries have, where anti-Semitism becomes an issue of political ding-dong across Chambers. The fundamental strength of the British parliamentary model is that we have invested huge amounts of effort to ensure that hon. Members from both sides are involved. The evidence for that strength is that, when there was a change of Government, and when there have been ministerial changes, the work has continued, irrespective of the Minister. Thankfully, every Minister we have had has been very positively engaged, I am confident that, whoever is appointed Minister by whoever is Prime Minister in 2015, this work will continue in the same way. There is virtually no other issue in Parliament that can have that guarantee, which is the strength of what I call the British model.

Other countries are now attempting to emulate the British model, which is entirely counterintuitive to normal political cultures. In a sense, because we have done it so effectively for so long in this country, we have become not blasé, but used to it. We have heard about the difficulties in reaching such consensus in, for example, Germany because it runs counter to the culture in which politics takes place. Despite the shared ownership and responsibility for addressing anti-Semitism in Germany, they cite the British example of how to get that momentum. That is powerful because, as well as sending a message to the Jewish community and to institutions in civil society, it sends a message to civil servants. They have been doing their job in this area very well, and the message it sends is that that momentum will be there. Woe betide the Minister who tries to row back and slow down, whatever party they are from, because there will be enough people from their own party going straight in to see them.

[Paul Uppal (Wolverhampton South West) (Con)]

I join my colleagues in congratulating the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. He is right about the consensus that we have proudly built in Britain on addressing this issue. A few years back I was fortunate to take a group of sixth-formers from my constituency to Auschwitz. My son went only last year, and he was very moved by the whole experience, but he highlighted one thing that I want to address today—perhaps the Minister will address this in his closing remarks, too. My son expressed particular concern about his fellow sixth-formers’ lack of knowledge about the holocaust and lack of historical perspective. The message from history is always that we should learn the lessons of history, which are always pertinent and salient to our modern-day political discourse.

[John Mann]

One of the report’s conclusions may well be that educational methods and lessons from abroad on how to teach such issues could inform the Government. I am sure the Minister and his ministerial colleagues will consider the report in detail, but there is some important evidence on how we can do more, and do things more effectively, in the curriculum. The hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Paul Uppal) is absolutely right.

[Sir Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

On this issue at least, I hope I can call the hon. Gentleman my hon. Friend. Good work is being done across the parties. When he and I visited Germany it was clear that, despite there being a strong commitment across political parties to protect the Jewish community, that in itself has become a source of competition. We are always tempted either to point the finger at other people’s bad behaviour or to be boastful of our own good behaviour, whereas, in the political context here, it must be right for us to have some humility about our failures and some pride in our successes.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Mann]

Thank you, Mrs Main. I agree with the right hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Sir Andrew Stunell) that the question of behaviour is fundamental. In a minute, I will say a word on electoral conduct, on which he has made a huge effort on behalf of Parliament.

We anticipated that the fourth Government report on anti-Semitism would be tabled this morning, and I hope there are no political reasons for any delay, which really would be a shift in approach. Will the Minister confirm that, as before, it will be a governmental report, rather than a departmental report, and that the Government will not downgrade it from previous publications, which have been formal Command Papers? That is rather important.

Many civil servants have been involved, but I pay particular tribute to Sally Sealey and Paul Giannasi, who have been the two most integrally involved. They are a huge inspiration to parliamentarians and those in civil society who are combating anti-Semitism. I also thank the staff of the all-party group, whom all Members in attendance know well: Danny Stone is the director; Jardena Lande does the international work; and Amy Wagner does the research. They have put in huge amounts of work and all too often do not get the credit and accolades for their work that we politicians get—the record should be put right on that.

Before I finish, I will say a word on social media and electoral conduct. We have ongoing problems with social media, and I will not go through the debate I had on that in the main Chamber a month or two back. Suffice it to say that the problems of anti-Semitism and other hate speech on social media are not going away. Some perpetrators remain active. The one who was arrested for abusing me is currently abusing various Christian groups and organisations. The police and the Crown Prosecution Service, who have powers, need to issue what I call a Twitter or Facebook antisocial behaviour order to ban such people from the particular medium by which they are criminally abusing, bullying and intimidating people.

Frankly, it is water off a duck’s back when I receive abuse, even though it is inappropriate and offensive, but it must be incredibly intimidating for people involved in, say, running a Christian charity to receive anonymous or pseudonymous abuse. For a member of the Jewish community to receive such vile abuse is, again, a different proposition. I am not suggesting that abusing Members of Parliament is acceptable—it absolutely is not, and what was said about my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) was horrendous—but many people out there are less able to defend themselves.

We need some powers. I do not think that the law needs changing: I think that it needs using inventively. I call on the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to use the internet equivalent of an ASBO to target some of these people and close them down. It is not free speech; it is criminal abuse. The sanction would be a criminal sanction agreed by a magistrate or judge and jury, so by definition, stopping such abusers would not be closing down free speech but protecting it.

There is much more that I could say, but a word needs to be said on electoral conduct. We held a cross-party inquiry into electoral conduct, led by my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel), which I was pleased to see praised publicly by Mr Speaker and many senior party representatives and stakeholders. We found in the inquiry that although there was sufficient legal provision to address incidents of racism and discrimination in UK elections, the law is underused and misunderstood. We recommended that some of the language of electoral law needed to be updated. The Law Commission, which has undertaken a consultation on such change, wrote to tell us that our recommendations would help in its design.

We also found that the role played by the former Commission for Racial Equality in providing guidance and demystifying the law had been helpful. Its successor, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, dropped the mantle but has since picked it up again to a certain extent. In a response to a debate called by Lord Alderdice, a Minister said:

“The EHRC is now looking at how best to update its guidance on elections for local authorities and other organisations for use in 2015.” —[Official Report, House of Lords, 1 December 2014; Vol. 757, c. 1195.]

Although that is not a cast-iron guarantee, I take it and a subsequent ministerial letter to mean that the EHRC will be doing that work. I do not know whether the Minister can comment on that, but if so, it is to be welcomed, and those who participated in the inquiry need the House’s congratulations. If the Minister cannot comment now, it would be useful if he could confer with colleagues and confirm later that the EHRC will do as I believe it is doing.

The electoral conduct inquiry also addressed concerns about discrimination in the media, having heard evidence on homophobia, racism and anti-Semitism. It is relevant to anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination. We have written to the secretary of the editors’ code committee of the new Independent Press Standards Organisation. I wish to make it clear to that organisation that we believe that attempts to secure a sensible balance between the defence of freedom of expression and protection from discrimination should be possible, and that we expect it to engage constructively with us before the election on that matter, which was raised as a point of concern by the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the CRE before it was raised by us.

I end by making the same point to the internet companies that I made a few weeks ago: we expect them to step up to the mark and not to allow anti-Semitic abuse via their platforms. It is demeaning of their good name that they allow it to happen. Twitter in particular has been extraordinarily hopeless at dealing with abuse, and its brand name is being dragged into the mire by its continuing failure to do so. It is possible. Twitter could assist law enforcement in this country if it got its act together, which it has not done, and we in this House should continue to highlight its failures until it not only comes to the table but acts up to the mark and shows that it is properly part of civil society.

Finally, on behalf of all those who have been active over the last year, I thank colleagues across the House for how they have engaged. I thank the Jewish community organisations with which we worked so closely and the Jewish community leaders Sir Trevor Chinn, Stephen Rubin, Trevor Pears, Gerald Ronson, the Chief Rabbi and others with whom we have worked so effectively in partnership. I am sure that the message from this debate will be that we will continue to do so regardless of our personal choice of who should be in government. Whether any of us are in government or opposition, the all-party group will continue to work on a cross-party basis to deal with anti-Semitism and take the lead that we are elected to take in dealing with such curses.