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Apr 28, 2021, 5:16 PM

Sadiq supported us in the antisemitism fight – now he deserves our vote

Sadiq Khan speaking at a Jewish Labour Movement event (CreditL JLM)

Some politicians claim to have been allies. Some politicians seek to rewrite history for electoral gain. Some politicians only show solidarity when it is politically convenient. Sadiq Khan isn’t one of those politicians. He is an ally and a friend. At the height of the...

Apr 5, 2020, 2:12 PM

With Keir Starmer’s election it’s time to draw a line in the sand

Ruth Smeeth (Jewish News)

Antisemitism has been a stain on our party. I’ve seen the grief that it’s brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party I am sorry. I’ll tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish...

Feb 20, 2019, 11:48 AM

I’m from a proud Jewish Labour family – and I’m staying to fight

Ruth Smeeth

I was born into a proud Jewish, Labour, family. My great zayde arrived from Poland in the late 19th century. He was a founder member of the Jewish branch of the Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Makers, which became Unite. As a proud trade unionist he...

Oct 9, 2016, 8:29 PM

My family’s Cable Street legacy drives my fight against racism

What connects the Kray twins, Oswald Mosley, four dozen table legs and an ineffectual bribery operation? My Great Uncle Hymie. The story of Cable Street is the story of real lives, of the old East End and the souls who inhabited it. It’s a story...

Sep 28, 2016, 12:07 PM

This is one fight we can’t afford to walk away from

Lord Mitchell has been a passionate advocate, a tireless activist, and an inspirational role model for my Party and the labour movement. Given the appalling antisemitism that is plaguing the Labour Party, his decision this week to resign from the Labour Party is one that...

Jun 22, 2016, 5:09 PM

Jo Cox’s murder is the hideous culmination of hate-filled politics

Last Thursday, a vibrant light was brutally snuffed out, decades before her time. Many of us who knew Jo Cox and know her husband Brendan will be desperately seeking reason in this insanity for years to come. Much will undoubtedly be written in the coming...

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About Me

Ruth Smeeth is former MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Vice-Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement. She is CEO of Index on Censorship.