Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the conference on anti-semitism held on 12 and 13 November in Berlin by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The Government is grateful to the Swiss Chairmanship-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for organising this important conference in Berlin, to Germany for hosting it, and to the US for delivering a key note address. We recognise that, ten years on from the last concerted attempt to confront anti-semitism in OSCE member states, the phenomenon may be getting worse in several countries. The UK acknowledges the scale of the problem and has developed robust, evidence-based policies to combat it. The UK’s success in encouraging more and better reporting of hate crime was recognised by several delegations at the conference.

We also welcome the conference of civil society groups which took place the previous day, with active participation by a range of UK experts, including the Community Security Trust and members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. We hope the OSCE as a whole will take note of, and act upon, their recommendations.