“Starmer is rolling out the red carpet for Farage” – Jewish councillor quits Labour with withering blast

Lambeth Cllr Martin Abrams says Labour is pandering to fascism, bullying anti-genocide Jews and toxic and rotting from within under Starmer

Lambeth’s Streatham St Leonards councillor Martin Abrams quit the Labour party last week and his remarkable letter announcing his departure is below:

Today I am resigning from the Labour Party after the best part of two decades membership and dedicating much of my adult life to the party.

My criticisms of the Labour Party under the ‘Starmerite’ project are manifold and well documented, and I’ve spent much of the last five years since Starmer was elected Party leader warning about his failings but even I am shocked at how bad things have become under his leadership and after one year in Government. Keir Starmer is now breaking records for unpopularity and is rolling out the red carpet for Nigel Farage and Reform.

Labour is now pandering to the far right, by scapegoating migrants and the most vulnerable in our society, deliberately stiring up racial tensions caused not by migrants but 45 years of failed neoliberalism. The Government is complicit in the ongoing Gaza genocide, providing military intelligence and support to Israel whilst at the same time crimnalising dissent and peaceful protest which has now led to the ridiculous and shameful spectacle of the mass arrests of pensioners under the terrorism act. “Starmerism” is a failed project that should have no place in the Labour Party and is one that has alienated hundreds of thousands of former labour party members and millions of Labour voters. Its time is up.

However the primary reason for my resignation today isn’t just the failings of Keir Starmer, after almost 20 years of membership I am appalled that a toxic culture of bullying, racism, sexism, disablism and factionalism have been allowed and even encouraged to fester in the party under Starmer’s leadership. This has now come to the fore and I myself am now the target of abuse from a number of colleagues within Lambeth Labour Group.

I have Patrilineal Jewish heritage (my dad is Jewish and my mum is not) and was brought up in a culturally and ethnically Jewish household in Greater Manchester. I spent much of my youth in the North Manchester Jewish community with my close and extended family, taking part in communal Jewish life and celebrating Jewish Festivals. I was taught about the persecution of Jews throughout the ages and to be fiercely proud of my background but I faced antisemitic bullying and abuse during primary and high school and at age 17 I was badly beaten up by a violent antisemite.

I am shocked to have been informed that my Patrilineal Jewish background is now being used to smear me as a “fake Jew” within Lambeth Labour group. Let’s be clear, to deny someone’s Jewishness and identity like this is anti-Semitism. I do not and will not ever need to prove my Jewishness to anyone and for it to be denied by some so called colleagues in Lambeth Labour Group is one of the most disgusting things I have ever faced within my 15 year membership of the Labour Party. I feel it is necessary to call this out publicly as I have zero trust in the Labour Party complaints process following other complaints not even being acknowledged.

I was suspended by Lambeth Labour Group in February 2024 for voting for a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and have since been blocked from re-standing as the Labour candidate in the 2026 local elections due to this ongoing suspension. As an Anti-Zionist Jewish person who was always taught to stand with the oppressed and never the oppressor, this vote was a matter of conscience for me and I am proud I took this stance.

However, my appalling treatment by so called colleagues in Lambeth Labour predates my suspension for voting for a ceasefire in Gaza as there have been concerted attempts to silence and sideline me. After more than 1,200 days since being elected in 2022 incredibly I have still not been allowed to make my maiden speech in the Council chamber or even ask a single Question to the Council Cabinet despite repeated attempts to raise important local issues. I refuse to be silenced however and will continue as that Jewish voice speaking out and standing up against the UK Government’s complicity and participation in the genocide in Gaza. It is quite simply the very least I can do.

Right now we have a Labour Council in Lambeth, A Labour Mayor of London and now a Labour Government, and after 15 years of Tory destruction there is no longer any justification, locally or nationally, to inflict further cuts or austerity on people. There should be an overwhelming feeling of hope and belief that Labour will significantly and quickly improve people’s lives, but that is not what I am hearing from local people when I speak to them.

I have worked hard to be a strong voice for a fairer, more equal and greener society and community in Streatham and it was one of the proudest days of my life being elected as Lambeth Councillor, but my treatment by so called colleagues has now forced my hand. I look forwards to moving forwards from this difficult chapter and continuing my work in the community as Lambeth Councillor for Streatham St. Leonard’s Ward. I refused to be bullied, I refuse to be silenced, I still have huge amounts of energy, passion and ambitions for Streatham and to be that voice in Lambeth Council that always stands up for the whole community and I look forwards to continuing this work.

Abrams will be participating in Your Show, the left’s broadcast from Liverpool during Starmer’s party conference in the city at the end of this month.