Labour members in the constituency with largest Jewish population in the UK have urged the party to change its stance on antisemitism.

Finchley and Golders Green Labour members have called on the party leadership to back in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including explanatory examples that accompany it.

Labour’s governing body, the national executive committee (NEC), has been widely criticised for not accepting all the examples given by the IHRA.

It said doing so could lead criticism of Israel to be classed as antisemitism.

Examples dropped from the code include: ‘Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour’ and ‘Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.’

Constituency Labour Party (CLP) delegates, including Barnet councillors, passed a motion on Wednesday (July 25) calling on the NEC to formally adopt the IHRA definition and incorporate it into the NEC Code of Conduct on Antisemitism.

The IHRA definition has been agreed by Jewish community groups; the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments; more than 120 local authorities and the European Parliament.

Finchley and Golders Green CLP said the vote was “a clear expression of Labour members’ desire to listen to the concerns of the local Jewish community”.

Cllr Anne Clarke, who represents Child’s Hill, said: “As a local councillor in Finchley and Golders Green I fully support the Jewish community when they look to us for protection from antisemitism, just as generations in the Labour movement have done before.

“For all our communities we must ensure that those who suffer racism are the ones that define it, and that the victim is placed at the heart of our processes.”

Cllr Sara Conway, community leadership spokesperson for the Barnet Labour Group, said: “Barnet Labour have always stood with our Jewish communities and we wanted to send an important message in support of the IHRA definition from the Borough with the largest Jewish population.

“We are committed to making Barnet no place for hate, for all minority communities and vulnerable groups.”

Labour’s NEC has agreed to reopen discussions on the code and a vote on whether to accept the full IHRA definition will not take place until September.