There was a time, not too long ago, when I took joy in speaking about my Jewish identity, whether exploring how young LGBTQ+ Jews are redefining their relationship between religion and sexuality, or celebrating our community’s long history of bringing people together through food. But now – reasonably or otherwise – in Britain the word “antisemitism” is synonymous with “Corbyn” and “Labour”, and so to simply offer up of my experiences and analysis has become exhausting and painful.

Like many others, I came to the conclusion long ago that the time for talking is over, and practical steps must be taken by the Labour party immediately, both internally and facing outward, if there’s a chance of repair. Jewish MP Luciana Berger’s resignation from Labour this week alone is evidence of that.

First and foremost, Labour’s disciplinary procedures need some consideration – they weren’t developed either for the age of social media, or for mass membership on this scale. So this will inevitably get a little technical.

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The content of Jennie Formby’s recent letter to the parliamentary Labour party outlining the steps already being taken to tackle antisemitism was reassuring: an in-house counsel has been appointed, the size of the staff team handling investigations and disputes has been doubled as well. For context, as it stands, the complaints process goes like this: once a complaint is received there’s a party staff-led investigation. The findings are then presented to a national executive committee (NEC) panel who – with a lawyer present – consider if there has been a breach of the party’s rules. Lower level sanctions may be handed out by the NEC itself at this stage, or cases can be dismissed if no rule breaking is found. The most serious of cases (where expulsion may be required) are referred to the national constitutional committee (NCC).

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According to Formby, all outstanding antisemitism cases at the NEC stage have been dealt with. A look at the numbers suggests that it’s unfair to say that no action is being taken; Formby’s team are clearly working hard. But there’s a backlog of the most serious cases now waiting to be considered by the NCC – which is unacceptable – and a lack of transparency that is made worse by mistrust around this issue.

Dealing with the former is easy: Labour should annually publish its complaint statistics – be that on antisemitism, sexual misconduct, or any other form or prejudice or discrimination. That way, concerns like that of Labour MP Margaret Hodge can be properly responded to. Yes, she submitted a dossier of 200 examples of antisemitism, but investigations found they referred to 111 reported individuals, of whom only 20 were Labour members. That’s good for everyone to know. The party should also publish anonymised reports of the investigations and chosen punishments, as well as the matrix for how it decides which punishment is handed out.

This level of transparency might prove uncomfortable at first, but it is vital. Other political parties should then be forced to follow in Labour’s lead.

Speed is the other issue – and the solution is to scrap the NCC. Its membership has grown from 11 to 25 in an effort to help matters be dealt with quickly, but this group of volunteers without enough accountability, availability or resources just don’t have the capacity to function properly. That is through no fault of its own.

My suggestion to deal with antisemitism complaints would start with a streamlined operation: the results of a staff investigation should be handed to a panel of independent lawyers who could make a judgment on the facts and a recommendation for what should happen next. All sanctions (including expulsions) should be at their disposal if needs be. For the sake of accountability and oversight, a group from the more readily available NEC could overrule such a decision if specified criteria were met or in exceptional circumstances. The NCC is supposed to ensure that the investigators of a case aren’t also be the ones who make the final judgment – but with staff and lawyers doing the former stage it’s a problem that no longer needs to exist.

Currently, hearings are delayed by the NCC when the person under investigation claims they are unable to be present for various reasons, and NCC members just aren’t around enough. Of course reasonable adjustments must be made to ensure fairness, but a time limit – let’s say three months – should be introduced under a new system to ensure that these delays don’t become a farce.

But progress won’t just come through reform of party process: the conversations about antisemitism within the party have been siloed. Even when it’s well-meaning, Labour speaks directly to its members, while people in the tight-knit Jewish community are – quite understandably – talking among themselves. Everyone else is just shouting into the void that is Twitter. The Labour leadership needs to step outside of its comfort zone and listen to Jewish people on their home turf: a town hall-style meeting for example in one of London’s progressive Jewish synagogues (either Golders Green’s Alyth or Finchley Reform) is long overdue. Corbyn’s and McDonnell’s teams should pick up the phone today and set a date.

On 6 March, the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) is holding an extraordinary general meeting to consider the organisation’s future, and today Jeremy Corbyn or John McDonnell needs to reach out and offer to attend in person, to answer questions and to listen, if they’ll have them there. It would be a gesture of goodwill, but also an opportunity to discuss more practical action. And behind the scenes Labour’s leadership must once again meet, behind closed doors, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews at their offices – mediated independently if necessary.

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For all the talk of political education, it seems an impasse has been reached: Labour doesn’t want to be accused of white-washing the issue by producing a programme without the Jewish community’s buy-in, while many Jewish groups simply don’t trust Labour’s leaders to do it right. Rather than waiting for relations to thaw, Labour should be urgently developing its own resources both to deal with antisemites but also to show willing to the Jewish community. Resources such as this free course developed by Yad Vashem should be undertaken by all constituency Labour party members right away, no complaints – you can never know too much about racism. Videos that show recognisable Labour figures meeting and listening to Jewish figures, activists, academics and experts could act as a signal to ordinary Labour members that we all need to learn.

Policy also needs to be announced as an urgent priority: not just for internal grievances but on a national scale as well. Antisemitism is on the rise in Britain and across much of Europe – and beyond the braying in parliament this Tory government is showing little sign that it cares. Jewish schools have seen a cut to security funding because the Home Office refuses to provide the support our community needs. Nothing is being done to support religious groups dealing with appalling vandalism in their cemeteries when it all too often occurs. I’ve taken heart in the solidarity shown recently between religious groups when bigotry has surfaced. Labour should develop and announce an agenda for supporting all faith groups – and give it equal importance to other popular social and economic plans without delay.

I’m still in no doubt that Labour can win enough votes at the next general election to deliver the progressive policies the country so desperately requires. The question is: will those who support Labour’s ideas in the Jewish community but currently have little faith be among them? There’s still a chance.

• Michael Segalov is a contributing editor to Huck magazine