by Priscilla Alderson.
Integrity
The Quaker Truth & Integrity Group (QTIG) is concerned about standards in politics, public life and the media. They adopted a statement in 2022. These are a few of the points they made.
‘We seek kinder ground…of tolerance, respect, mutual cooperation and shared ethical and spiritual values’, led by individuals of impartial integrity. To address oppression and seek reconciliation, advocates work ‘between those of opposing views’ towards the shared truth of ‘truly inclusive, participative democracy, where people feel their wishes and needs are truly respected and taken into account’. ‘Where truth and integrity flourish, so too can personal relationships… our democracy and our precious traditions’, besides international relations that ‘completely address the crises that threaten our very existence’.
‘Crises’ hint at another meaning of truth and integrity. When ‘lies, injustice, inequality, deception and entitlement are prevalent it is only the truth – in all its uncomfortable [my emphasis] forms – that will heal us.’1 People who identify their integrity with ‘upright ethics and unbending principles’ may bitterly disagree on what is ‘the truth’, as decades of disputes about anti-slavery showed. Defending the truth can be disruptive and painful not peaceful. Many early Quakers suffered imprisonment and torture when they dared to speak truth to power.
Organisations such as churches, universities and political parties honour their own integrity by encouraging critical debates that search for truth. Yet truth may become too divisive, as in current disputes about anti-Semitism. The priority then may be to defend, not the truth, but each organisation’s integrity in its reputation, unity, closely integrated membership, and unquestioning loyalty to the leaders’ policies. Even neutral bystanders can help the strongest side to win, fairly or not, by their unquestioning loyalty.
For example, since 2019, the Labour Party’s unity has been preserved by over 150,000 dissenting members resigning or being excluded. In another example, the Quaker Trustees aim to safeguard the integrity of Britain Yearly Meeting in July by excluding the annual Quaker Socialist Society Salter Lecture because Jeremy Corbyn will be a speaker. (This was explained by Sheila Taylor on this website on 3/4/24.) Are their fears justified?
Truth
Led by the great and the good, by the BBC and the Guardian, the campaign against Jeremy Corbyn alleged that he ‘presided over “unlawful” anti-Semitic harassment within the party. When he claimed this finding was “dramatically overstated”, he was suspended.’ This accusation, which can seem moral, religious and nonpolitical, was repeated again in Quaker weekly, The Friend (11/4/24 and 25/4/24).
Several books and a film explain these misunderstandings. Public opinion surveys run by universities found that, on average, respondents believed that one third or ‘34 percent of Labour Party members had complaints for anti-Semitism made against them’. There were a horrifying 453 complaints. However, complaints were made against less than 0.1 percent of Labour Party members when there were well over 500,000 of them in the largest political party in Western Europe. The public believed there were 340 times more complaints than were actually made. Jeremy Corbyn commented, ‘One case of anti-Semitism is one too many’ but the public’s estimation is ‘grossly exaggerated’. When Labour leader, he tried to speed up anti-Semitism hearings but was told he should not interfere in Party procedures.
It is often said the 2019 election was ‘catastrophic’ for Labour. Yes, many seats were lost, often by a narrow margin. Yet the table shows that more votes were won by Labour under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and 2019 than under Gordon Brown in 2010.
UK Election Results
Date Political Parties
| Conservative | Labour | Lib Dem | |
| 2019 | 13,966,451 | 10,295,907 | 3,969,423 |
| 2017 | 13,636,684 | 12,877,918 | 2,371,861 |
| 2010 | 10,703,754 | 8,609,527 | 6,836,825 |
One problem in 2019 was documented in the report by Martin Forde KC commissioned by Keir Starmer. Some senior right-wing members of Labour Party staff worked hard to ensure that some left-wing Labour candidates were defeated.
Searching for truth and integrity
Quaker truth and integrity would involve examining Jeremy Corbyn’s lifelong work for antiracism, peace and justice, asking who his powerful opponents are, and what they gain by discrediting him. The books I’ve noted earlier analyse how the most powerful and wealthy groups in the world aim to ensure that no political leaders can stand for peace and justice (and Quaker values). Instead, they must stand for inequality, austerity, war and nuclear arms.
These international powers work through networks and thinktanks, the social and mass media funded by billionaires and the arms, oil, technology and other giant industries, to mislead voters. They persuade voters to fear socialist policies and to support right wing and even fascist governments that will enrich the rich and punish the poor. Their successes are shown in elections around the world. Yet socialist policies are widely supported. Keir Starmer could only become the elected Labour leader in 2019 by saying that he supported ten carefully costed socialist policies. Then he soon reneged on them.
Real anti-Semitism is among the greatest cruelties and tragedies in all history. Yet the word has been redefined to mean anti-Zionism. Criticism of the Zionist Israeli government is seen as criticism of all Jews. But that is like saying to criticise the British government criticises all British people. Many Jews are punished for being anti-Semitic.
Should not Quakers concerned with truth and integrity be protesting more clearly against real anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, against the false accusations and, as Quakers in Britain say, against all wars?
Priscilla Alderson, Member of Dorchester Meeting, 26/4/24
1 Quaker Truth and Integrity Group, https://quakertruth.org/
2 On Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TACIA7oSIk; Winstanley, A. 2023. Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn. OR Books.
3 Philo G, et al., Bad News for Labour. Pluto Press, 2019.
4 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/general-2019-election-turning-votes-into-seats/
5 https://labour.org.uk/resources/the-forde-report/; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/25/what-really-happened-during-labours-anti-semitism-crisis
6 https://www.trilateral.org/; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/06/rishi-sunak-javier-milei-donald-trump-atlas-network
7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Voice_for_Labour
8 https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/statement-on-israel-palestine
Quaker Socialist Society 
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