Liz: I’ll end Whitehall wokeism over Israel

LIZ Truss clashed with civil service unions yesterday after suggesting she would tackle ‘wokeism’ in Whitehall as part of the wider fight against anti-Semitism.

The Foreign Secretary made the comments as part of a pledge to support the British Jewish community.

Miss Truss said: ‘Every organisation has its culture, but it’s not fixed, it can be changed.

‘That’s what ministerial leadership is about... making sure that the policies we represent, the values we stand for, are reflected in what we do.’

She added: ‘I’ve been very clear with our officials about the positions we take on Israel, and that will continue if I become prime minister.’

The Truss campaign said she would ‘change woke civil service culture that strays into antiSemitism’. It is understood this relates to an incident where Miss Truss had to ‘overrule’ Foreign Office officials who voiced doubts about her show of support for the Israeli prime minister at the UN Human Rights Council.

But trade union bosses called on the Tory leadership hopeful to provide evidence for her claims. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA Union, said: ‘She provides no evidence for her accusation that many civil servants will find both insulting and abhorrent.’

Prospect trade union general secretary Mike Clancy added: ‘After 12 years of this government and eight years for Liz Truss in the Cabinet, she should have a better grip on both the evidence and facts about what is happening in the civil service. If there is evidence, she should publish it.’

Miss Truss also pledged to eradicate anti-Semitism from university campuses and review whether schools are doing enough to educate pupils and teachers about it.

Earlier in the Tory leadership campaign, she pledged to review moving the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if elected.

A source close to Miss Truss said last night: ‘As Foreign Secretary Liz has enhanced our relationship with Israel and as a senior minister she has consistently stood up for the Jewish community.’

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust, a charity that works to protect British Jews from anti-Semitic abuse and discrimination, said: ‘Both leadership candidates have expressed strong opposition to anti-Semitism and we sincerely welcome their suggested policies for how to best tackle this growing problem.’

A Truss campaign source claimed last night that the Labour Party has been a ‘talking shop for anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism’ under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, and formerly Jeremy Corbyn.

The source added: ‘This has increased anxieties within the Jewish community.’

‘Culture that strays into anti-Semitism’