UK Higher Education Minister to give "seal of quality" to universities which crack down on antisemitism

UK Higher Education Minister Robert Halfon announced that his office was creating a "seal of quality" to be given only to those universities which adhere to “the highest standards in dealing with antisemitism,” according to reporting by the Jewish Chronicle.

Minister Halfon also said that his office would be adding an Expert Adviser on Antisemitism in Higher Education. The Adviser would be a senior academic respected by both the university system and the Jewish community and who would serve as a liaison between universities and the government.

The British government would also establish official guidelines for combatting antisemitism, based on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, as well as how the guidelines would be enforced.

This announcement comes against the background of a major surge in antisemitic incidents as reported by the Community Safety Trust, which found that British Jewry had experienced the highest rate of antisemitic incidents it had ever recorded, especially since the war began.

Both the Home Secretary and the shadow Home Secretary condemned this spike, calling it "utterly deplorable" and "intolerable."