Sir Keir Starmer has called his visit to Auschwitz “utterly harrowing” and said he was determined to fight the “poison of antisemitism”.
The prime minister visited the former Nazi concentration camp where he laid a wreath ahead of the 80th anniversary of its liberation, during a trip to Poland to meet its political leaders.
After he and his wife Victoria, who is Jewish, visited the site, Sir Keir said: “Nothing could prepare me for the sheer horror of what I have seen in this place. It is utterly harrowing. The mounds of hair, the shoes, the suitcases, the names and details, everything that was so meticulously kept, except for human life.
“As I stood by the train tracks at Birkenau, looking across that cold, vast expanse, I felt a sickness, an air of desolation, as I tried to comprehend the enormity of this barbarous, planned, industrialised murder: a million people killed here for one reason, simply because they were Jewish.”
Historians estimate about 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, perished in Auschwitz over less than five years as part of the Nazi’s extermination plan. The camp was liberated by the Soviet army on 27 January 1945.
Sir Keir, who was on his first trip there, said it was Lady Starmer’s second visit but it was “no less harrowing than the first time she stepped through that gate and witnessed the depravity of what happened here”.
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He added that their visit truly showed him how “this was not the evil deeds of a few bad individuals, it took a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary people… in the hatred of difference”.
“The lessons of this darkest of crimes are the ultimate warning to humanity of where prejudice can lead,” he said.
Image: Sir Keir and Lady Starmer laid a wreath at the concentration camp. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
The prime minister warned of the rising threat of antisemitism in recent years, including in the UK.
“The truth that I have seen here today will stay with me for the rest of my life,” he said.
“So too, will my determination to defend that truth, to fight the poison of antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, and to do everything I can to make ‘never again’ mean what it says, and what it must truly mean: never again.”
Sir Keir travelled to Poland from Kyiv after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there in his first trip to Ukraine since becoming prime minister.
He told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, in Kyiv, the UK will play its “full part” in peacekeeping in Ukraine, including sending troops.
However, former senior military leaders have warned this may not be possible due to the army being at its smallest size for 200 years.
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Starmer and Zelenskyy lay flowers at memorial
In Poland, he is expected to discuss the new UK-Poland treaty with his counterpart Donald Tusk, which will support both countries working together to protect Europe from Russian aggression and work together to tackle people smuggling gangs.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the charity was “grateful to Sir Keir for leading the way in ensuring that the horrors of the past are always remembered”.
Health minister Andrew Gwynne has been sacked over comments posted on a WhatsApp group.
Mr Gwynne reportedly made antisemitic comments and ‘joked’ about a pensioner constituent, saying he hoped she died before the next election, according to the Mail on Sunday.
In the WhatsApp chat, which contained Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, Mr Gwynne made racist comments about Labour MP Dianne Abbott and sexist remarks about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people. He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case.”
A Labour spokesperson confirmed Mr Gwynne had been suspended as a member of the Labour Party.
“We are investigating comments made in this WhatsApp group in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures,” they said. “Swift action will be taken if individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour Party members.”
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Mr Gwynne said he deeply regretted his “badly misjudged comments” and apologised for any offence caused.
“I’ve served the Labour Party all my life and it was a huge honour to be appointed a minister by Keir Starmer.
“I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can.”
Nigel Huddleston MP, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, said there is “clear contempt for pensioners in the Labour Party”.
“This clearly goes beyond Andrew Gwynne and there is a rot in Labour that needs fixing. Andrew Gwynne should not remain a member of the Labour Party – they need to act.”