Open Letter from the CAMPAIN group and others to Keir Starmer

JVL Introduction

CAMPAIN is non-partisan group campaigning against serious misrepresentation in public affairs and the news media, on Israel/Palestine and “antisemitism”, and much else besides.

JVL has joined many organisations and individuals to sign this Open Letter, drafted by mainly non Labour Party members, raising deep concerns about the attack on free speech and its dangers not only for the Labour Party but the wider society.

Formally addressed to the Labour Leader, General Secretary and National Executive Committee members, the letter is launching on Sunday, 19th September.

You can find the background to the letter here on the CAMPAIN website, with a link to the letter and an updated list of signatories to date.

To sign please email [email protected] stating that you wish to be a signatory, and provide a brief bio including town/borough of residence, and role/occupation.

The letter itself is reproduced below.


Open Letter from the CAMPAIN group* and supporters, X Sept 2021

* Campaign against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs, Information, and the News, formed March 2021. Email [email protected]; tel. 07843 383259; postal address – 21 Stanstead Close, Bromley, BR2 9DS.

Dear Keir Starmer, David Evans and members of the Labour Party National Executive

CAMPAIN is a group formed to push back against gross misinformation and misrepresentation in Britain’s public affairs and news media – see www.campain.org. We are strictly non-partisan and include members from all political parties and none.

We are deeply shocked at what we are seeing in your Party, including:

  • the widespread misrepresentation of left-wing elements, including a disproportionately large number of Jews, as “antisemitic”, and latterly
  • a campaign to silence these elements and/or expel them from the Labour Party.

Those on the receiving end often characterise this as “an attack on the left” or “an attack on socialism”, but we consider it far worse: it undermines the core values to which most British people subscribe including evidence-based discussion, free speech and democracy.

We expect the Labour Party to base its arguments on substantive evidence; not least because it is led by a well-known lawyer who rose to be Director of Public Prosecutions. Back in 2019 we sifted through the evidence behind endless media claims that the Labour left was a hotbed of rampant antisemitism, and found no substance in them.

Of course, there is some anti-Jewish sentiment in all sections of society, but there is no reason to highlight the Labour Party in this regard. Indeed, the evidence shows that prejudice against all minorities, including Jews, is stronger on the right of the British political spectrum.  A range of other players have reached the same conclusions, but their findings are hardly reported in Britain’s (biased) mainstream media.

We appreciate that the Labour leadership may have its ideological differences with the Labour left, but find it totally unacceptable that the Labour leadership is playing the “antisemitism card” to attack the Labour left.  The current campaign to silence and/or expel left-wing members of your party is reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century. It is a giant leap backwards and represents a wholesale abandonment of any commitment to the right to fair representation and due process

Please reflect on this and bring this abuse to a close. We shall be delighted to receive comments or answer any questions you may have.

Kind regards

  • Rodney Watts, Chairman of CAMPAIN
  • Jonathan Coulter, Secretary of CAMPAIN
  • Miranda Pinch, co-founder of CAMPAIN. Producer of “From Balfour to Banksy”
  • Tim Llewellyn, co-founder of CAMPAIN. Former Middle East Correspondent for the BBC
  • Nigel Scott, co-founder of CAMPAIN, and a fighter for honest reporting
  • Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL)
  • SE London & Lewisham Friends of Palestine (SELFOP)
  • David Cannon, Chair of Jewish Network for Palestine (JNP), London
  • and many more…

see here for full list of signatories

Comments (11)

  • John Coates says:

    This open letter is most welcome in the campaign for free speech and open debate.
    The witch hunt against the left and against free speech in the Labour Party and in Society must be called out and denounced for the chicanery that it is.
    I have added my name to the wide range of organisations and individuals represented.

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  • CAMPAIN will be dispatching the Open Letter by close of play on Sunday 18th Sept. If you would like to appear as a signatory, let us know ASAP by emailing [email protected], and providing brief bio including town/borough of residence, and role/occupation.

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  • amanda sebestyen says:

    I am hoping the tide may slightly be turning, as Private Eye has published two letters quite recently putting anti-Zionist positions. (They didn’t publish my own letter sent nearer the beginning of the antisemitism accusations, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone, but better late than never). On the other hand, the i weekend newspaper had an article referring to Labour antisemitism as if it was self-evident. And in another part of the Eye there’s a ‘Labour Special’ mainly attacking Unite, the Bakers’ Union and ‘the ragtag gang of Spartists and anti-Zionists who believe the party’s antisemitism crisis was mostly made up’… So we have a way to go.

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  • Moira Gomes says:

    After 41 years membership in Labour, I received notice that they were sorry I’d left! I wrote immediately to correct the position. I was told if I wished to rejoin I had to pay again! As I had just paid my fees I chose not to do so. It was apparent they didn’t care and their attitude disgusted me. I was an outspoken socialist!

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  • I sign this under protest as Sir Keir’s title should be recognised, not to praise it but to acknowledge how far the Labour party has fallen.

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  • Rodney Watts says:

    To Ed. If possible could you correct here the mistake we made on the original signers list. Miranda Pinch was producer of “From Balfour to Banksy”, not director. Many thanks Rodney

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  • Nick Elvidge says:

    Excellent civil society organisation and one we could not need more at this time. Fantastic and stop the Abuse! Solidarity

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  • We have just sent off the Open Letter, so thanks to the many of you who supported it. Let’s each try to publicise it and share it with others.

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  • Margaret West says:

    Concerning Amandas post about Private Eye – I too saw the disgraceful “Labour Special” concerning a distorted view of the Bakers Union, Unite and others. They proudly advertise that they have not joined any regulator, preferring to allow a rebuttal by those
    who consider themselves slandered.

    This is a sly nasty piece – preferring to rely on innuendo rather than
    actual facts.

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  • Some people wanted to be signatories, but missed the Sunday night deadline. If this is your case, just drop me a line at [email protected], and ask me to include you in progress updates that I send out.

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Comments are now closed.