The Jewish Chronicle

Warning to those who

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JEREMY CORBYN supporters on Labour’s ruling national executive committee have submitted a proposal calling for party members to face disciplina­ry action if they make what are deemed to “vexatious claims” of antisemiti­sm, the JC can reveal.

In a move which has sparked fury amongst moderate MPs and their supporters, a resolution submitted for debate at next Tuesday’s meeting of the NEC has suggested that “maliciousl­ymade accusation­s” of alleged Jew-hate by Labour members should result in disciplina­ry proceeding­s being “pursued against the complainan­t”.

Party sources initially denied that the “vexatious claims” proposal had been submitted for inclusion at the September 4 meeting — but on Wednesday they confirmed to the JC that an NEC member had submitted the resolution for inclusion at the meeting which will consider demands for Labour to adopt the internatio­nally recognised definition of antisemiti­sm.

But the move by the far-left pro-Corbyn faction to penalise those judged by Labour to have made untrue claims has deepened the dissent over the party’s attempt to overhaul its disciplina­ry process.

A source close to one of the MPs demanding that Labour adopt the Internatio­nal Holocaust Remembranc­e Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemiti­sm next week said the party should be “thoroughly and completely ashamed” about the punishment proposal.

The resolution, which is believed to have won the support of left wing trade union members among the 32 strong NEC, suggests that “an unfortunat­e side-effect of the party’s renewed determinat­ion to root out antisemiti­sm has been that, in a small number of cases, false accusation­s have been made about Labour party members, officers and elected representa­tives.”

It adds: “Labour must be tough on vexatious claims made about its members and must never accept such behaviour becoming the norm.

“To be taken seriously, formal complaints about alleged wrongdoing by party members must therefore be precise and based on facts and must take into account the context within which the alleged behaviour took place.

“Complaints that do not meet these standards may be considered vexatious, in which case they may result in disciplina­ry charges being pursued

Labour must be tough on any vexatious claims made about its members’

against the complainan­t.” A Labour source acknowledg­ed that the resolution had been submitted ahead of Tuesday’s NEC meeting but insisted that did not guarantee it would make the agenda.

But furious Labour MPs — including Deputy Leader Tom Watson — have said that any move to inhibit allegation­s of antisemiti­sm would do further damage to the credibilit­y of the party leadership’s efforts to address the problem.

Last week the JC revealed how Jeremy Corbyn was backing moves led by senior figures within the party, including Unite union chief Len McCluskey, to force through an amended version of the IHRA definition with clauses opening the door to criticism of Israel — rather than adopting the full definition with examples.

The clarificat­ion could even include protection for those who claim that the state of Israel could be termed ‘racist’ in its handling of the Palestinia­n issue.

One option said to be being considered by the pro-Corbyn faction on the NEC is for Labour to follow the lead of the Commons Home Affairs Committee’s own amended definition, which in 2016 included two key caveats on the need to protect free speech.

The committee stated: “It is not antisemiti­c to criticise the Government of Israel, without additional evidence to suggest antisemiti­c intent.

“It is not antisemiti­c to hold the Israeli Government to the same standards as other liberal democracie­s, or to take a particular interest in the Israeli Government’s policies or actions, without additional evidence to suggest antisemiti­c intent.”

But crucially, the Home Affairs Select Committee report into antisemiti­sm was widely praised by the Jewish community after it was published in 2016.

Unlike the current Labour leadership, the committee took evidence from then Board President Jonathan Arkush, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, then Jewish Leadership Council chairman Sir Mick Davis and Mark Gardner of the Community Security Trust.

It is understood that the left-wing NEC faction may include both of the Select Committee’s caveats — but also add further amendments of their own.

Labour MP Ian Austin said: “The leadership has got itself into a terrible hole and they need to stop digging.

“First, the IHRA definition explicitly allows the criticism of Israel so it does not need rewriting or changing and the Labour leadership would probably be the last people the Jewish community would ask if it did. But second, I think we’ve gone a long way beyond this now and people are questionin­g whether Jeremy can sort it out.

“He’s got to make this his number one priority and he’s got to address his own responsibi­lity for this crisis.

“Adopting the full IHRA definition and all the examples is just the first step to repairing the damage.

“He’s got to listen carefully to the reasonable requests the Jewish representa­tive bodies — the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies — made months ago, respond to them properly, boot the racists out without further delay and really show there is no place for antisemiti­sm in our party.”

Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel said: “This apparent partial climb-down by the Labour party remains unacceptab­le.

“The Jewish community has made its view clearly and repeatedly: that the party adopt the full IHRA definition as the UK government, 31 other countries, 130 local councils, the police, the Crown Prosecutio­n Service and the judiciary have done.

“We fail to understand why Labour wishes to place the right of antisem-

Labour has got itself in a terrible hole and needs to stop digging ’

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