Report on racism by Corbyn allies sparks lawsuit after leak
V A LEAKED report by allies of Jeremy Corbyn containing unredacted names and details of party members and staff who blew the whistle on the party’s problem with antisemitism has sparked fury — and a lawsuit.
The 860-page document, which was compiled during the last month of Mr Corbyn’s leadership, attempted to prove that “factional opposition” to the former leader from party officials was to blame for the failure to effectively tackle the anti-Jewish racism crisis.
Those responsible for compiling the report, who included a former employee of Jon Lansman’s Momentum organisation, also attempted to discredit one of the main whistleblowers in last year’s BBC Panorama documentary on Mr Corbyn’s failure on antisemitism.
The dossier, which was intended as a submission to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to support the party’s case, was compiled after its authors trawled 10,000 emails and thousands of private WhatsApp communications between former senior party officials.
It also aimed to discredit the work of the former General Secretary Lord Iain McNicol and other senior figures, alleging they provided “false and misleading information” to Mr Corbyn’s office in relation to the handling of antisemitism complaints, which the report claims meant “the scale of the problem was not appreciated” by the leadership.
But after it was leaked to Sky News on Sunday, the full report in unredacted format found its way into the hands of pro-Corbyn news websites and other supporters.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner said on Monday that an independent investigation would examine the leaking of the document, as well the “wider culture and practices” it refers to and the “background and circumstances in which the report was commissioned and the process involved”.
There were also numerous complaints from within the Jewish community that individuals who had submitted confidential statements alleging racism were now having their names circulated on social media — including on neo-Nazi websites in America.
In a statement sent to the JC, lawyer Mark Lewis of Patron Law confirmed:
“I have been instructed to pursue libel claims and claims for breaches of Data Protection against those publishing the defamatory allegations in the leaked Labour report.
“Those who choose to repeat such allegations and put out private information have only got themselves to blame when the consequences catch up with them.’’
On Tuesday, Mr Lewis was believed to have been contacted by dozens of individuals wishing to pursue legal action after their names appeared on the internet.
In their report on Sunday, Sky News did not disclose the names of whistleblowers contained in the report.
Meanwhile, the MP Russell LloydMole, a newly appointed shadow cabinet minister in Sir Keir’s team, appeared to publish a retraction on social media after he was revealed to have circulated the report himself the previous day.
A legal source said: “It is astonishing that a Shadow Minister should think it proper to publish it and then double down on his public attack, advising people that what he did was permissible, before retracting his comments.
“Locking the stable door after so many horses have bolted must be a resigning matter.”
The JC understands there is also widespread anger at the contents of the report, with accusations that it presents a one-sided and imbalanced view of the party’s handling of antisemitism.
While the document accepts in its
Executive Summary that the “report disproves any suggestion that antisemitism is not a problem in the party” and condemns those who call the issue a “smear”, it fails to explain entirely why Labour experienced a boom in new members who held antisemitic views once Mr Corbyn became leader.
It also fails to present a case demonstrating that the party dealt with the problem more successfully once Jennie Formby became General Secretary in 2018.
One MP told the JC that allegations made against him in the report where “factually incorrect” — while examples of mishandling of the crisis such the failure to suspend pro-Corbyn NEC member Pete Willsman after the JC exposed his comments about “Jewish Trump fanatics” in the community remain absent.
The Jewish Labour Movement, the official affiliate of the Labour Party, is expected to challenge the party over the leak, with a number of its members clearly identified in the report.
In a series of Twitter posts, Peter Mason, the JLM’s national secretary, said it contained “incredibly sensitive personal information relating to complaints, victims and major safeguarding issues. No attempt appears to have been made to redact or protect the identities of those complaining, or complained about.
“This includes existing members of staff and officers, as well as a substantial number of people covered by the nondisclosure agreements who have not spoken publicly.”
In a statement, a spokesman for the Labour Against Antisemtism said: “Our lawyers have been in touch with the relevant parties. We have collated and are collating evidence of people sharing the report and the information contained therein.”
“We have also asked for immediate sight of any legal advice the Labour Party has already received about the report,” Sir Keir and his deputy Ms Rayner said in their statement.
“In the meantime, we ask everyone concerned to refrain from drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete and we will be asking the general secretary to put measures in place to protect the welfare of party members and party staff who are concerned or affected by this report.”
The authors of the dossier trawled 10,000 emails
One MP said the allegations were ‘factually incorrect’