Shadow Cabinet in commitment to rebuild trust with Jewish community

SHADOW CABINET Ministers have committed to rebuilding trust and the “historic relationship” with the Jewish community amid swathes of criticism over the Labour Party’s handling of anti-Semitism allegations.

A Labour source said Jeremy Corbyn’s top team welcomed the “transparency” of the party’s decision to release anti-Semitism expulsion figures, and expressed their “solidarity” with MP Luciana Berger, inset.

Moves to hold a vote of no confidence in Ms Berger, a prominent critic of Mr Corbyn over his handling of anti-Semitism and his position on Brexit, were withdrawn last week after a heated row in the party ranks.

Meanwhile Labour revealed on Monday night that it had received 673 allegations of anti-Semitism by its members over the past 10 months, leading to 12 individuals being expelled.

Following a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet yesterday, a Labour source said: “The Shadow Cabinet welcomed the transparency of the release of figures. They expressed their solidarity with Luciana Berger over the anti-Semitic abuse she’s received. They said it was right that the motions were withdrawn.”

The figures were released a week after an explosive meeting at Westminster which saw MPs accuse party general secretary Jennie Formby of failing to tackle the issue adequately. A motion demanding the release of information about disciplinary cases was passed by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). Releasing the figures ahead of the further PLP meeting on Monday, Ms Formby said she had “pushed hard” to persuade the party’s ruling National Executive Committee to allow their publication.

Of the 673 complaints between April 2018 and January 2019, some 211 resulted in the issue of a notice of investigation and a further 96 cases saw members immediately suspended. In 146 less serious cases, members were given a written warning and in 220 there was not sufficient evidence of a breach of party rules to proceed with investigation.