General election 2019 latest: rabbi and rappers intervene on deadline day

The UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has warned voters that “the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety” at the prospect of a majority Labour government.

In an article for The Times, Mirvis claims the Labour leadership’s response to anti-Semitism accusations has been “utterly inadequate”.

The Jewish leader has been a persistent critic of Labour, reports the BBC, and celebrated Boris Johnson’s election as Tory leader in July this year in a Facebook post that said: “I am delighted to congratulate Boris Johnson, a longstanding friend and champion of the Jewish community, on becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party and our next prime minister.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But not everyone is convinced. British rappers Stormzy, Kano and Professor Green have all thrown their support behind Jeremy Corbyn, and have urged more people to join the million who have registered to vote in the past week, ahead of the 11.59pm deadline tonight.

In an Instagram post, Stormzy said Johnson was “a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people”.

An independent think-tank have predicted that child poverty could rise to a record 60-year high if the Conservatives gain another term in power, largely as a result of the Tories’ two-child limit on support for families.