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As the right moves in on antisemitism, where does that leave the Jewish left? | Antisemitism
Rabbi Charley Baginsky, the co-leader of Progressive Judaism, admitted she felt apprehensive before speaking at last weekend’s central London rally against antisemitism.
As she addressed the crowd, there were some boos. It wasn’t the first time – last year, on a similar stage outside Downing Street, Baginsky and her fellow co-lead, Rabbi Josh Levy, were jeered off stage.
While even some who disagreed understood the booing of the government minister Pat McFadden as the product of a view that Labour had not done enough to take on antisemitism, some of the same attenders were dismayed by the same treatment for the Liberal Democrats’ Ed Davey before the event’s MC intervened.
Meanwhile, Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, was warmly received by parts of the crowd, as was the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch.
The moment was a reflection of how some liberal and leftwing British Jews are feeling isolated as figures on the right seize the initiative in condemning antisemitism and robustly defending Israel.
For some, antisemitism can only be confronted through broad alliances with other minority communities and anti-racist movements. But others increasingly view parts of those same spaces with suspicion, arguing hostility towards Jews has been minimised or tolerated within them.
The most recent research into the voting preferences of British Jews found support for the Greens was higher than support for Reform in 2025. But among community leaders at the forefront of the fight against anti-Jewish racism, there is a belief that the right is increasingly benefiting from fading trust in the left.
Raphi Bloom, of the Jewish Representative Council, said Labour had long been seen as a “natural home” for Jewish values of social responsibility.
But he said the Jeremy Corbyn era had weakened the bond, while attacks and abuse since the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel had pushed “a number of Jewish people” further to the right politically, or led them to prioritise safety over ideology.
“More and more people are being drawn to Reform,” Bloom said, adding that Reform “has definitely had its issues with anti-Jewish racism” – but had “dealt with them swiftly” at a time when parties were being judged by speed of action.
Meanwhile, he said Reform had brought over “genuine allies” of the Jewish community from the Conservatives – including Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi – at a time when many felt “betrayed and abandoned” by Labour over the pace of action against anti-Jewish racism and Islamist extremism.
Baginsky believes antisemitism must be placed within the wider context of tackling all forms of hate, saying “until we are a society that tackles antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny, and says ‘this is not the sort of Britain we want’, then we won’t be living in a Britain that’s safe for any of us.”
But, she added, “That’s a really hard message to give when, for some people, the answer is drawing the walls up.”
Nonetheless, the 2,000 people who signed a letter urging organisers to withdraw an invitation to the Reform leader, Nigel Farage – and ensure the demonstration reflected values of “inclusion and solidarity” – reflected levels of sympathy for Baginsky’s argument among some in the community. To many Jewish signatories, allegations of teenage antisemitism reported by the Guardian – and denied by Farage – should have meant he was excluded from the event.
But that concern is not confined to claims of antisemitism in isolation. Tice’s appearance at this weekend’s rally came shortly after he declined to criticise a newly elected Reform councillor accused of saying Nigerians should be “melted into potholes” – the type of moral inconsistency that makes Andrew Walters, an Independent councillor in Salford, uneasy.
Walters, a British Orthodox Jew, said: “I think it’s a naivety [to align too closely with the right]. Any party that has based their principles on despising other groups has got to be considered as a minimum with a lot of scepticism.
“I think the far right are using their anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant agenda to try to attract those Jews who feel that this issue has become polarised and, unfortunately, this idea that it’s Jews against Muslims – this agenda is something which is capitalised on by both the far left and the far right. But it’s a short-term fallacy to say ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’.”
As politics in the UK polarises, support for the two main parties among British Jews is declining, according to research from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) likely driven by “a combination of disillusionment with both the Labour government and the Conservative party, and growing concerns about antisemitism in the UK.”
JPR found support for the two main parties in 2025 was “just 58% – the lowest level we have ever recorded by some distance”, when historically it was “around 75% to 80%”.
Meanwhile, JPR found 18% of Jews favoured the Green party – outweighing the 11% of Jews favouring Reform.
David Feldman, co-director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, said there were “two dynamics of polarisation” driving divisions within British Jewish political life: growing disagreement over Israel, particularly among younger Jews who are increasingly less likely to identify as Zionists, and deepening arguments over what is driving antisemitism itself.
“The idea that antisemitism across British society is being driven by the pro-Palestine movement is now widespread,” Feldman said. He added that the most extreme elements of this viewpoint “seem to say that the wellbeing and safety of Jewish people in this country are necessarily opposed to the wellbeing and safety of Palestinians”.
David Davidi-Brown, the chief executive of the New Israel Fund in the UK, said that while he attended the march personally, his organisation withdrew their backing after invitations were sent to political leaders.
“The New Israel Fund has to think about our Palestinian and Muslim partners. The tone and rhetoric we were seeing gave us pause,” he said. “To be clear, we had no issue with the anger itself. The anger and fear after Golders Green were understandable. What concerned us was how some of that anger was being expressed.”
Davidi-Brown said that while he recognises the profound failures in progressive and anti-racist spaces when it comes to Jews and Israelis, he was opposed to sweeping generalisations that treat the entire movement as inherently hostile to Jews. By comparison, he said he often challenges the same sweeping generations or hostility people have about Zionists.
“We need to stop flattening everyone into hostile caricatures,” Davidi-Brown added.
There was also growing unease about rising hostility towards immigrants within parts of the community. Alan Mendoza, Reform UK’s chief adviser on global affairs, posted an image of the Golders Green attacker and wrote that Britain had “imported alien values”, adding that people subscribing to an “alien religious ideology” should be “removed from this country”.
Rabbi David Mason, executive director of the Jewish refugee charity Hias+Jcore, who previously served as rabbi of an Orthodox synagogue, said that while many British Jews have seen solidarity with migrants and minority communities as closely tied to Jewish history in this country, there were worries that that connection is fraying.
“When there’s growing fear – and fear is being stirred up against refugees and migrants – we need to be careful. We need to stick to understanding the historical narrative that when Jewish people came here, they found barriers. They found it difficult. They weren’t always treated with trust. And yet they made a go of it,” Mason said.
But Mason was keen to stress there was widespread work being done in synagogues across the country in support of migrants and refugees. “Jewish communities do really positive work. There’s no way we are giving up on society.”
Walters also rejected the idea that British Jews were moving decisively rightward. “Judaism is a spectrum. There’s the old joke about if you have two Jews, you’ll have three opinions.
“I don’t think there’s any particular gain in support for Farage – I think it’s more a case that people are more scared of what the extreme left is going to do, because there are those that use anti-Zionism as a euphemism for antisemitism because it’s more politically palatable.”
Bloom warned that “the small minority of Jews who gravitate towards Tommy Robinson” – who has cultivated links with British and Israeli Jewish activists – were “playing a very dangerous game”, adding that it was “absolutely wrong” for progressive rabbis to be booed at the rally.
Regardless of their political persuasion, communal leaders also spoke of their admiration and respect for the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies for attempting to bring different sections of the community together.
“It’s a difficult path for the Jewish community to navigate,” Bloom added. “But we’re not running away. We’re not Jews on trembling knees. We are gonna fight. You know, we believe we have a strong future here, but we need allyship from many, people in wider society.”
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Trump, Xi speak ahead of talks to make relations ‘better than ever’ | Xi Jinping
Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump say they’re looking forward to US-China talks that are expected to tackle divisive issues ranging from the US-Israeli war on Iran, trade, technology, and Taiwan. This is Trump’s first trip to China since 2017.
Published On 14 May 2026
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Kyiv building collapses after Russian strike, reportedly trapping residents | Russia-Ukraine war
Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with drones and missiles early on Thursday, officials said, damaging several buildings, including one which partially collapsed with residents likely trapped under rubble.
Published On 14 May 2026
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Gst Collection In Up: UP sets record in GST collection, ranks second in the country, collected Rs 10178 crore – Gst Collection In Up: Up Sets Record In Gst Collection, Ranks Second In The Country
In the first month (April) of the financial year 2026-27, Uttar Pradesh has achieved a big achievement in terms of GST collection. The state has secured second position in the country by registering Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection of Rs 10178 crore. With this achievement, UP has left behind big industrial states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra stood first with a collection of Rs 22929 crore.
According to GSTN data, a record total GST collection of Rs 2.42 lakh crore was made across the country in April 2026. This is considered to be the biggest monthly collection till date. Experts say that this growth has been recorded due to increase in imports, increase in demand in the domestic market and better tax compliance. The tax base in the state has been strengthened by industrial investment, expressway-based industrial corridors, expansion of the MSME sector and the impact of the digital tax system. GST collection has increased due to increase in business in industrial areas of Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Purvanchal.
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According to senior tax expert Dinesh Kumar Jain, the benefits of investment received through Global Investors Summit and ground breaking ceremony are now visible on the ground. Tax collection is expected to increase further in the coming times with the opening of new industrial units.
Result of improvement in business environment
State Tax Commissioner Dr. Nitin Bansal says that an increase of 46% has been recorded in post settlement SGST collection as compared to April 2025. This is the result of improvement in business environment in the state and strictness of tax administration.
| Top-5 states of the country | |
| Maharashtra | 22929 crores |
| Uttar Pradesh | 10178 crores |
| Karnataka | 9958 crores |
| Gujarat | 9916 crores |
| Tamil Nadu | 8413 crores |
West Bengal Hs Result: West Bengal Board 12th result declared, total 91.23% students passed; Know how the result was – West Bengal HS Result 2026 Declared, Check Your Class 12 Scores Instantly Here; Know Overall Performance
West Bengal HS Result 2026: West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has officially declared the class 12th (HS) result today on May 14, 2026. All the students who appeared in the examination can get the result through their roll number and required login details. Hard copies of marksheets, passing certificates and registration certificates are also being distributed by the board across the state on the same day.
Farage’s Clacton-on-Sea constituency worst ‘tree desert’ in England, research shows | Access to green space
Nigel Farage’s constituency of Clacton-on-Sea is a “tree desert”, leaving people more exposed to air pollution, poorer health, lower life expectancy and the impact of rising temperatures, according to a new report.
The Essex town is rated the worst-performing for equal access to trees in England, with the highest proportion of urban residents – 98.2% – living in neighbourhoods with critically low access to trees.
The research, which covered the whole of the UK, found a significant north-south divide, with 15 of the worst-performing towns and cities for tree cover located in the north. Hartlepool’s population has particularly low access to trees, with 86.9% of residents at risk from a lack of access.
Caroline Gray, Woodland Trust tree equity programme officer, said: “More than a million people in the UK are living in these ‘tree deserts’, places of critically low tree equity where communities are missing out on the many benefits trees provide.
“That can mean hotter homes and streets, dirtier air, higher rates of asthma and heart disease, and poorer physical and mental health. These challenges affect daily life in countless ways and, combined with wider inequities, can even contribute to lower life expectancy.”
Scarcity of trees in urban areas puts people more at risk of stress, anxiety, depression and poor physical health, research suggests. Trees in urban environments reduce the risk of floods, keep the air cleaner and protect from rising temperatures.
The north-east was identified as the region with the highest number of “tree deserts”, with 13 of the worst-performing English towns. London and the south-east fare the best for access to tree density, including Woking and Tunbridge Wells, with five of the best-performing areas located in the capital, including Lambeth, Islington and Hackney.
Gray said everyone should have easy, nearby access to the environmental and health benefits of trees – known as tree equity. Wealthier areas, however, tend to have more tree abundance, while areas of social deprivation have far fewer trees.
The Woodland Trust said tree equity should be embedded into urban planning – and trees that are planted must be cared for and protected to ensure they continued to thrive and improved the quality of life of residents for years to come.
Gray added that the aim was not to criticise local authorities but to raise awareness of where people are most impacted in order to encourage greater support, investment and action. “Schools and communities in areas can apply for our free trees – we want to support local authorities and the people that live there.”
Councillor Adrian Smith, Cabinet Member for Environment at Tendring District Council (TDC), said that “the characterisation of areas such as Clacton as a ‘tree desert’ does not reflect the reality on the ground. More than 40,000 trees have been planted in Tendring in recent years, through the Tendring Woodland Initiative Group, and with support from partners including the Essex Forest Initiative. In addition, the council has planted more than 1,500 trees across many of our open spaces, helping to strengthen tree cover in our urban areas and bring the benefits of green infrastructure closer to residents, as part of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund. Alongside this, community-led planting projects, memorial tree additions within our cemeteries, and ongoing maintenance programmes further demonstrate our commitment to increasing biodiversity and enhancing green spaces across the district.”
The rankings reflect the scale of the population exposed to low tree equity, rather than simply identifying areas with the lowest overall tree cover. Tree equity does not just measure abundance, but also reflects whether areas have enough tree cover to meet local needs – for example, in areas of high air pollution, the need for access to tree cover would be greater than in an area with cleaner air.
Trees in urban areas create habitats for wildlife, help prevent flooding by acting as natural sponges and umbrellas, improve air quality and keep cities and towns shaded and cool. But they are under constant threat from development and under stress in many areas from climate breakdown.
In several cities, including Plymouth and Sheffield, the felling of urban trees has prompted public protests.
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