The march yesterday in support of the Jewish community and against antisemitism was a wonderful expression of people coming together.

We were delighted to see thousands of Progressive Jews marching alongside those from across our community and allies of all faiths and none.

However, there has also been some unfair criticism of the Board of Deputies of British Jews that we wish to address.

The Board did not organise the event, which was tightly held by the CAA. However. their leadership and staff were all very present and active on the day. Their social media support of the march has been seen by 456,000 people.

Any attacks on the Board for being ‘too late’ to endorse is a deeply unjustifiable attack on an organisation which represents the Jewish community in all its diversity.

They did not feel able to publicly endorse a march which they were not involved in organising without knowing who was speaking and that all the security measures were in place.

This speaks to the quality of their leadership. This was the action of a responsible body, which has served the community well over its 263-year history.

As soon as they had this reassurance, they issued full-throttled and very widely seen support.

It is vitally important to stand against antisemitism at this time, and we have also been inspired by similar solidarity events in Paris and Washington.

We look forward to continuing to work with our communal partners to keep the message of light in these dark times alive.