Reform UK’s launch of its Reform Jewish Alliance (RJA) is a unique concept in British politics as it creates a special interest group within, rather than external to, a major political party.
As I stated at the launch event last week, our main mission is to do all we can to help Nigel Farage win the next general election outright by boosting Jewish support for Reform UK.
We will also help to ensure that a Reform UK government will succeed in ridding the UK of anti-Jewish discrimination.
Indeed, as Nigel has said, the horrendous levels of antisemitism in Britain have given rise to the need for the RJA. Many in the Jewish community have experienced antisemitism in schools, places of higher education, the NHS, the courts, employment, entertainment and sport.
The expression “two-tier justice” was used in particular to refer to the ridiculous jail sentence given to Lucy Connolly, but the Jewish community is suffering from this trend continuously, with the prime example being the regular hate marches using “the Palestinians” as an excuse.
That said, the RJA will not be a Jewish organisation within Reform UK. Rather, it will be open to all faiths or none, with hopefully the majority of its members not being Jewish.
Membership implies a concern, and the desire to address that concern and the desire to address that concern, about the way Jews in the UK are being treated. There is no reason why all members of Reform UK should not be members.
So what will the RJA do, and what benefits will its members get? First, we will be organising regular speaking events (either via Zoom or in person) where the guest speakers will either be senior politicians within Reform discussing issues pertinent to British Jews, or be prominent figures within the Jewish community talking about matters they think Reform UK should address.
As head of Reform's Jewish Alliance, this is our plan to stop the terror that stalks our streets - Gary Mond
|Reuters
Second, it will organise conferences and produce newsletters where members can not only hear from the party’s leadership but also give their own views on the issues.
Third, it will canvass and campaign for Reform UK. Fourth, it will strongly support party policies designed to address the desperate situation of antisemitism in this country.
The RJA will also be active in the media, not just in supporting Reform UK policies, but also in countering the smears of its opponents.
A good example has been the ludicrous insinuations that Nigel Farage is in some way hostile to Jews. At our launch event, Alan Mendoza (Reform UK’s chief adviser on global affairs) and Robert Jenrick MP both said that Nigel does not have an antisemitic bone in his body. That is correct, and all those who know Nigel well will completely agree.
Yet there is another important point that underpins this view and indeed gives a lot of reassurance to much of the Jewish community, and that is Nigel’s frequent references in his speeches to Judeo-Christian values as a basis for his beliefs.
These represent a shared moral and ethical foundation between Judaism and Christianity, such as the Ten Commandments. Rooted in the bible, such values are the bedrock of Western civilisation and focus on individual accountability, free will and moral, rather than secular authority.
Such a philosophy is not just Nigel’s alone but is at the core of Reform UK’s principles, espoused in speeches by deputy leader Richard Tice as well, and the party’s other political representatives too. Furthermore, the last politician to refer to Judeo-Christian values regularly was Margaret Thatcher.
In conclusion, the launch of the RJA represents a clear statement from Reform UK that it is going to address the frightening situation that British Jews face today. Unlike other major political parties, it is taking the matter of Jew hate seriously.
All members of Reform UK, of all faiths or none, should join.
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