Lucy Powell will tell every school to adopt IHRA. The review she accepted says a view held by 45% of adults could be antisemitic.

Seven of the definition's eleven examples are about the State of Israel. The letter goes to every school and college in England later this year. Write before it does. Read our analysis of the review.

The Department for Education Office via Wikimedia Commons

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About this campaign

On 21 October 2026 the Education Secretary, Lucy Powell, told the House of Commons: "I will therefore write to all schools and colleges to set out my expectation that they adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism." Her department says the letter will go out later this year. A new antisemitism training package for every school leader and safeguarding lead will include content on the definition.

Seven of the definition's eleven examples are about the State of Israel. One is "claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor". Another is "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis". Sir David Bell's review used it to say a view held by 45% of British adults, that "Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews", "could be regarded as antisemitic according to the IHRA definition". That 45% comes from a YouGov poll of 2,245 adults for the Campaign Against Antisemitism, in September 2025.

The review's terms of reference said in March that it "will be using" the IHRA definition. The call for evidence opened eight weeks later. The review says there is "confusion around the boundary between legitimate political expression and antisemitism", but when the call for evidence asked people directly, 526 of 590 said they could tell antisemitism from criticism of Israel and eleven said they could not. That answer is in the government's evidence spreadsheet, not in the review. Its longest section is about pupils and teachers showing support for Palestine with badges and flags, and it says "political identifiers do not have a place in our schools".