The current criticisms of anti-Semitism levied at parts of the Labour Party cannot be ignored by the rest of society. Our society is made up of numerous organisations and groupings whose internal culture can at times justify or cover up attitudes that should be open to consideration and challenge, but because of either a prevailing point of view or a lack of wider awareness of what goes on is missed. The more closed a group is, the easier it is for such views to be established and then maintained. Few people who have spent time with members of the Labour party and attempted to work with them would be unaware of their internal tribalism. The sense of us and them which exists equally strongly in many other groups of people is very publicly evident in the row between the members of Momentum and people such as Warren Morgan and those members who support him. The fact that over the last three years he has served as leader of our Council means he deserves our appreciation for leading the Council on our behalf. Whatever the strengths and weaknesses of his decisions, the truth is he will no doubt have done many positive things, just as his many predecessors from across the various parties have, and these actions may never become known. However because of the inner tensions of the party which he has clearly contributed to, such as his objections to a future visit to our city by the Labour Party Conference, it is hard for those of us outside the party to really understand what is going on and to have sympathy for those who are impacted by the tension they helped to create. When such criticism and rejection goes beyond the personal and becomes aligned to wider human identities such as Religion or other strands of Equality or even geographical identities such as North and South or in my origins the correct side of the Pennines, then we are into very different territory. Even within these identity groupings there are many internal sub-groups which add to the confusion for those outside of them and therefore make it easier for the outsiders to be judged to take sides without intending to do so. Just as Anti-Semitism clearly exists in parts of the Labour Party, so there are also members of the Conservative Party with the same views and probably every other political Party. However there are also many people whose views are not at all anti-Semitic, but who do have strong views about the way in which the Israeli Government behaves. It is not difficult to confuse these two things, particularly when many of those making comments don’t fully understand where the distinctions between the two issues lie. Along with the existence of the anti-Semitism are numerous examples of people from the same Political parties expressing views that are anti-Islamic. It is very concerning that Islamophobia appears to be tolerated by both the parties and the media in a way that anti-Semitism is not.

Last week I had an interesting conversation with a senior police officer who was explaining to a group of people I am part of about the latest discussion taking place in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Because of the current focus of IICSA on the abuse carried out by Priests who are part of Chichester Diocese and management failures within the Diocese, Sussex Police have also been asked to make a number of contributions to this national inquiry. The Officer concerned was trying to understand why there seemed to have been so many more cases of child abuse in our local Diocese than in most other areas. Having worked for the Diocese in the past my own perspective on this matter relates to the various internal groups which exist inside the organisation, each of which creates its own separate internal identity and allegiances. Inside such silos it becomes easier for those who have things to hide to play one group off against another. One of the distinctive aspects of Chichester Diocese is the strength of these internal silos compared to many other Dioceses. Such behaviour is clearly not limited to the Church of England or indeed Christian organisations, yet the more closed an organisation is from the rest of society, the easier it is for mistakes or evil behaviour to become hidden and be allowed to develop. Equally it is also harder for the good practices that exist in such places to be understood because the people on the outside of these silos are less interested in what goes on inside. It seems vital for all of us to be able to see into such organisations without major barriers being erected intentionally or unintentionally!