A British Jewish advocacy organization is urging tougher penalties for local councilors who engage in antisemitism.
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) submitted its recommendations on proposed changes to the the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life, which it hopes will results in tougher punishments for offending councilors.
CAA noted that the committee had previously recommended reforms of regulations on punishments for local councilors. But the government had rejected the proposals.
“The deficiencies of the current system mean that the problem is still very much alive,” CAA said in a statement.
The submission considers the committee”s proposals in light of CAA”s research into the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism by local authorities. Their project also follows antisemitic incidents at local councils across the UK.

According to CAA, the recommendations include “stricter and more uniform sanctions for local authorities to be able to impose on councilors who engage in antisemitic conduct, more clarity on when a councilor is or is not subject to the council”s code of conduct, and the importance of training.”
The recommendations would occur on top of adopting the IHRA definition which would be applied when antisemitism cases occur.
“We are pleased to be able to provide the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life with our recommendations for how the sanctions system in local government can be improved to better address antisemitic incidents at local councils,” a CAA spokesperson said. “This submission is part of our ongoing policy work, which seeks to ensure that the authorities are empowered by law to address incidents of antisemitism wherever they arise.”