Labour vows to defend Christians' right to wear crosses at work

Jeremy Corbyn is promising to defend the wearing of crosses, hijabs and other religious clothing in a special 'race and faith' manifesto on Tuesday afternoon.

The Labour leader is seeking to tackle the perception he is soft on antisemitism, vowing to tackle hate crime and recruit 10,000 more police officers to work on community beats. 

The special interest manifesto promises to reassess the counter-extremism Prevent programme, which has been criticised for prejudicing against Muslims.

Launching in Watford this afternoon, Corybn said: 'People continue to be treated unfairly due to their gender, ethnicity, faith, sexuality, gender identity or disability. The recent rise in hate crimes, including Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic attacks and increased attacks against other faith communities, underscores how far we still have to go

'Labour will repair the damage done by the Conservatives which has sown the seeds of division in our communities.'

The 17-page 'race and faith' booklet promises to strengthen communities' rights to 'practice their religion free from persecution'.

It reads: 'We will defend the right to wear all forms of religious and other dress of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and many others.'

The move comes as a poll shows just 13 per cent of Jewish voters plan to back Labour at the election in nine days time, compared to 77 per cent for the Conservatives.

The Survation study for the Jewish Chronicle found more than half who will not back Labour say they would reconsider if Corbyn was not leader.

In an attempt to tackle his 64-point deficit among Jewish voters, Corbyn's 'race and faith' manifesto strongly condemns antisemitism.

'Anti-Semitism is an evil which led to the worst crimes of the twentieth century. Every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that it is never allowed to fester in our society again.'

Pointing to 'a sharp increase in the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences' since the EU referendum, Labour promise to 'take robust action against violence and hate crime'.

Days after the Manchester bombing, the booklet accuses the Conservatives of failing 'to take any effective new measures against a growing problem of extreme or violent radicalisation' and promises to introduce a new 'community based and intelligence led' response to extremism.

'Labour will review Prevent with a view to assessing both its effectiveness and its potential to alienate minority communities,' the manifesto reads.

It also promises to make the NHS introduce halal and kosher food labelling in hospitals.

News
People view religious education positively, study finds
People view religious education positively, study finds

The government is consulting on plans to add RE to the national curriculum.

Archbishop of Canterbury withdraws award given to Muslim cleric who praised Bin Laden
Archbishop of Canterbury withdraws award given to Muslim cleric who praised Bin Laden

Reform leader Nigel Farage said the decision to award Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi was "astonishing". 

How the new General Synod could move beyond the present disagreement over same-sex relationships
How the new General Synod could move beyond the present disagreement over same-sex relationships

How might the next Synod make progress in the next five years based on a recognition that there are those in the Church of England who hold fundamentally opposed positions on the matter? Is there a way of allowing both sides to achieve what they want? Martin Davie argues that the answer to this question is ‘Yes.’

No part of London should become a free speech, gospel exclusion zone
No part of London should become a free speech, gospel exclusion zone

Soho is not exempt from freedom of speech and Christian expression. And Christians do not lose their fundamental freedoms when they cross an invisible boundary into a neighbourhood associated with a different worldview. The streets of London belong to all of us, writes Andrea Williams.