Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Anti-semitism row ‘shameful chapter’ in party’s history
MP: Labour’s handling ‘let many people down’
MP Rosie Duffield says an investigation’s conclusion that her own party broke equality law in its handling of anti-semitism complaints confirms “what many others knew”.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found evidence of political interference in the way grievances were dealt with, and “unlawful harassment” in the Labour Party.
Canterbury and Whitstable MP Ms Duffield - Kent’s only Labour representative - says the report marks a “shameful chapter” in the party’s history. Former leader Jeremy Corbyn was plagued with allegations of anti-semitism during his tenure and was criticised by members of his own party - including Ms Duffield - for failing to tackle it. He has since been suspended from the party after he denied he was “part of the problem”. An investigation was launched last year following complaints from organisations and people within the party.
The EHRC identified serious failings in the leadership in addressing anti-semitism and an inadequate process for handling anti-semitism complaints. The party is responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act 2010 relating to political interference in complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-semitism cases and harassment.
It has since been handed an unlawful act notice and has been
given six weeks to put together an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations. This is legally enforceable by the courts if the requirements are not fulfilled.
Ms Duffield previously admitted her party “probably is” institutionally anti-semitic.
She was then embroiled in a row with former Canterbury Labour Party chairman Ben Hickman, who claimed her comments angered the “overwhelming majority” of local party members.
He described her comments as “reckless” and even suggested she could be deselected ahead of last year’s general election. In a statement last Thursday, she said: “Sadly, the EHRC report confirms what myself and many others knew, that there were unlawful acts and discrimination of anti-semitism within the Labour party and the handling of it let many people down, causing deep divisions and wounds.
“We have lost many excellent colleagues and supporters because of this shameful chap
ter in Labour’s history. “Keir Starmer’s apology and pledge to never let this happen again is crucial to building those breaches of trust that anti-semitism has caused and I welcome the implementation of the Commission’s suggestions with immediate effect.” The EHRC found there were 23 instances of inappropriate involvement by the then-leader’s office in the complaints process.
This was found to be indirectly discriminatory and unlawful as it put the person making the complaint at a disadvantage. It was also revealed there was a lack of training for people handling anti-semitism complaints which indirectly discriminated against Jewish members. Labour has committed to proper training, with the EHRC recommending it should be mandatory and fully implemented within six months. Mr Corbyn said he did not accept all of the findings but trusts the recommendations will be “swiftly implemented to help move on from this period”.