Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer returned £6,176 in gifts received since becoming party leader, coinciding with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. While a symbolic gesture resembling the Tashlich ritual of casting away sins, this move has sparked controversy due to its timing and potential for conflict of interest.
The gifts he accepted, don’t really matter. It’s the lack of personal judgement he applied that is concerning , the Jewish New Year, which is a time for hope and renewal, of customs and prayers which invoke the prospect of a benign year ahead. One might assume thatknows all this.
He’s right that long-observed customs and the symbolism that goes with them form an integral part of the Jewish religion, especially its major festivals, and the New Year is no different. Guests at dinner on the night before Rosh Hashanah are invited to take a slice of apple and dip it in honey – this is to represent the hope that the forthcoming year is a sweet one.
Instead, he bowed to the pressure with the partial rendering of his stash of freebies. This was entirely the wrong thing to do. And it does nothing, borrowing words from the scripture, to purify him. Because what we are dealing with here is the original sin. The substance of what he did, of the gifts he accepted, doesn’t really matter. It’s the lack of personal judgement he applied in accepting them that is concerning.
Sir Keir Starmer Labour Party Rosh Hashanah Gifts Conflict Of Interest
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