A letter in support of the Mayor of London from Jewish Barnet Labour Councillors

Labour's London mayor Sadiq Khan (left) and Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall (right) — Barnet’s Jewish Labour councillors have slammed Susan Hall (right) for her comments about Sadiq Khan (left)

We Jewish Barnet Labour councillors have been at the forefront of the struggle against antisemitism, in wider society and sadly in our own party. Many of us have suffered antisemitic abuse as a result, as well as more general threats and gaslighting.

Throughout that time Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been our friend and ally. We will always be grateful for his support through those difficult years. Which is why we have been outraged by Cllr Susan Hall’s insinuation that the Jewish community is fearful of Sadiq.

It appears to us that this is a clear example of islamophobic signalling. Cllr Hall is either perceptive enough to know this, in which case the statement is a disgrace, or is oblivious, in which case her judgement is exceedingly poor. In either case, she appears to be entirely ill-suited to any public office, let alone the mayoralty of a proudly diverse world city.

Whether she is deliberately malicious or lacks insight into the effects that the words of a politician can have, this sorry episode indicates a Hall mayoralty would be actively corrosive to community relations, including the Jewish community.

We welcome the words of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the community’s representative organisation, when it states that Sadiq has treated our community with “friendship and respect”. We are delighted that under Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan’s leadership the Labour Party is at the forefront of the battle against antisemitism.

We stand in solidarity with Sadiq, as we did in previous mayoral elections when he suffered islamophobic abuse, and look forward to four more years of his inclusive and inspiring leadership.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Andrea Bilbow

Cllr Sara Conway

Cllr Phil Cohen

Cllr Matt Perlberg

Cllr Danny Rich

Cllr Gill Sargeant

Cllr Ella Rose

Cllr Alan Schneiderman

Cllr Liron Woodcock Velleman

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