Labour anti-Semitism report finds 'unlawful discrimination'

LATEST: Jeremy Corbyn suspended from Labour party after comments on anti-Semitism

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s 130-page report on the investigation into anti-Semitism in Labour said it found “significant failings in the way the Labour Party has handled anti-Semitism complaints over the last four years”.

It said they found “specific examples of harassment, discrimination and political interference”, but also noted “a lack of leadership within the Labour Party on these issues”, which it said was “hard to reconcile with its stated commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism”.

The Campaign against Anti-Semitism said the "debate was over" and that Labour was "institutionally anti-Semitic" under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Jeremy Corbyn said he "trusts" the report's recommendations will be implemented but fell short of apologising for the issue, which he said was "dramatically overstated for political reasons".

Current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings were a “day of shame” for the party and he was “truly sorry”.

The EHRC report said: “The Labour Party must live up to this commitment and acknowledge the impact that multiple investigations and years of failing to tackle anti-Semitism has had on Jewish people.”

It said it “uncovered serious failings” in the way complaints were handled, until at least 2018, during which Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader.

The report stated: “We found that the Labour Party’s response to anti-Semitism complaints has been inconsistent, poor and not transparent, in terms of the process used, reasons for decisions, record-keeping, delay and failures to communicate with complainants.

“Some complaints were unjustifiably not investigated at all.”

The report also found “evidence of political interference in the handling of anti-Semitism complaints throughout the period of the investigation”.

The report added: “We have concluded that this practice of political interference was unlawful. The evidence shows that staff from the Leader of the Opposition’s Office (LOTO) were able to influence decisions on complaints, especially decisions on whether to suspend someone.

“Sometimes these decisions were made because of likely press interest rather than any clear formal criteria.”

The report cited an example of such interference, from April 2018, regarding Mr Corbyn’s alleged support for an “anti-semetic mural”.

It said that in an email to the party’s governance and legal unit (GLU) responsible for handling complaints, LOTO staff said that the complaint should be dismissed, stating that: “The complaint itself seems to fall well below the threshold required for investigation and if so surely the decision to dismiss it can be taken now.”

The report said that LOTO staff “amended and approved the GLU’s written response to the complainant to include details on Jeremy Corbyn’s actions in relation to the mural.

“LOTO staff therefore directly interfered in the decision not to investigate in this case.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said: “When the commission was set up by the last Labour government to tackle discrimination, promote equality and protect human rights, it never occurred to me or anyone else that one day the Labour Party would be investigated for breaching the equality legislation that a Labour government had introduced.

“Worse still, that the Labour Party would be found to have committed unlawful acts under that same legislation.

“But that’s what this report finds – both in terms of unlawful harassment through the acts of our agents, and unlawful indirect discrimination.

“The report’s conclusions are clear and stark – they leave no room for equivocation.”

In a response to the EHRC report, the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: “The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report is a groundbreaking document.

“It is the first ever finding by the EHRC of unlawful acts.

“It heavily criticises the Labour Party’s former leadership.

“It makes clear recommendations to ensure that there is zero tolerance of anti-Semitism in the party in the future. It provides a robust framework for ensuring that the party complies.

“The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews, who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour Party.

“In an unprecedented finding, it concludes that those who made such accusations broke the law and were responsible for illegal discrimination and harassment."

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism also said: “The debate is over. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party became institutionally anti-Semitic. It drove almost half of British Jews to consider leaving the country.

“For five miserable years, every effort to compel Labour to reform failed. We were left with no choice but to refer the Party to the EHRC, which launched an investigation with us as complainant. The EHRC’s findings and recommendations today – that Labour’s leadership and culture created an unlawful environment that discriminated against Jews – closely align with the hundreds of pages of evidence and argument that we submitted to the EHRC over many months.

“Frankly, this report would not be much different had we written it. It is the dispensing of British justice that British Jews have sorely awaited, but has been denied for too long.

“Jeremy Corbyn and those around him who took part in or enabled the gaslighting, harassment and victimisation of Britain’s Jewish minority are shamed for all time.

“Those who defended and stood by them are shown to have made possible the closest flirtation that mainstream British politics has had with anti-Semitism in modern history.

“Sir Keir Starmer now has a long list of reforms to make, including establishing an independent disciplinary process so that those who put Britain’s Jews in fear for their future in this country can at last be held to account for their deeds. To that end, we have submitted complaints against Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and fifteen other sitting MPs and have given Labour six months to conduct transparent investigations and finally deliver justice for the Jewish community.

“We are immensely grateful to everyone who fought alongside us for this day to come. Too many of them have suffered greatly for their principles. They are the best of this country.”

In a statement, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Antisemitism is absolutely abhorrent, wrong and responsible for some of humanity’s greatest crimes.

"As Leader of the Labour Party I was always determined to eliminate all forms of racism and root out the cancer of antisemitism. I have campaigned in support of Jewish people and communities my entire life and I will continue to do so.

“The EHRC’s report shows that when I became Labour leader in 2015, the Party’s processes for handling complaints were not fit for purpose. Reform was then stalled by an obstructive party bureaucracy.

"But from 2018, Jennie Formby and a new NEC that supported my leadership made substantial improvements, making it much easier and swifter to remove antisemites. My team acted to speed up, not hinder the process.

“Anyone claiming there is no antisemitism in the Labour Party is wrong. Of course there is, as there is throughout society, and sometimes it is voiced by people who think of themselves as on the left.

“Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it, and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should.

“One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media. That combination hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated.

“My sincere hope is that relations with Jewish communities can be rebuilt and those fears overcome. While I do not accept all of its findings, I trust its recommendations will be swiftly implemented to help move on from this period.”