Community care draws impressive audiences as election fever heats up

Election fever has begun to grip the community, evidenced by the impressive turnout seen at meetings held this week in local schools and synagogues.

More than 200 people attended a lively event at Borehamwood Synagogue on Tuesday night, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and Labor candidate Josh Tapper, along with a Liberal Democrat MP.

While at the JCOSS school, 150 people signed up to attend a Chipping Barnet meeting on the same night, which featured Tory candidate Theresa Villiers and Labour’s Dan Tomlinson, again with Mark Durrant , from the Lib Dems.

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The high turnout appeared to confirm a lot of community interest in the outcome of next month’s election, with opinion polls continuing to show Labor holding a commanding lead over the Tories.

While Israel, in the wake of the Hamas atrocity on October 7, has remained an obvious topic of discussion and concerns, the developments so far have also shown that the community has a major concern about issues such as housing, condition of roads and sidewalks, along with worries. on the impact of pollution and wastewater discharges.

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In Hertsmere, Labour’s Tapper was repeatedly pressed to clarify his party’s position on the recognition of Israel and Palestine. He dismissed claims the party led by Keir Starmer would rush to recognize a Palestinian state if it won the election and pointed to Foreign Secretary David Cameron signaling support for a policy similar to that contained in Labour’s manifesto.

At one point, Dowden admitted that he had not attended a D-Day commemoration this year, but pointed out that he had attended them in the past.

In Chipping Barnet, former Tory minister Villiers tried to suggest that Labor was in favor of “unilateral” recognition of Palestine, despite the party’s manifesto stressing that it would only support recognition as part of an international process.

Both Tomlinson and Villiers condemned the Palestinian aid agency UNRWA over evidence that some staff supported the October 7 massacre.

The Labor candidate also confirmed that a Starmer-led government would match the current Tory government’s £78m funding commitment to the Community Security Trust.

Both Villiers and Tomlinson have pledged to remain staunch supporters of Israel if elected as MPs.

The public arrive at Jcoss School ahead of the Chipping Barnet sales

For the Lib Dems, Durrant also praised the community and said he was a supporter of Israel, having traveled to the country several times.

He also described some of the pits in Chipping Barnet as some of the worst he had seen.

Around 30 Jewish community debates, featuring local candidates from the main political parties, will take place between now and the July 4 general election in Barnet, elsewhere in north London, Hertsmere, Leeds, Manchester and across Scotland.

The debates are supported by the Council of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, the London Jewish Forum and all regional communal bodies, with The Jewish News as a media partner.

Board chairman Phil Rosenberg said: “The Board of Deputies is proud of its efforts, alongside the JLC, London Jewish Forum and regional partners, to help facilitate around 30 Jewish community debates ahead of the general election; Thanks to Jewish News for its role as media partner in promoting many of these.

“Those that have already been held have generated a high level of interest; the Jewish community is highly involved in national politics and many of the topics covered are among those discussed at length in the Council’s Jewish Manifesto, due to be published this week.

“We are grateful to all the candidates who have committed to our actions and look forward to the debates to come.”