Labour in open warfare over complaints process
Formby’s claim that no system existed for recording Jew-hate is angrily disputed
TWO FORMER members of the Labour Party’s ruling body have disputed general secretary Jennie Formby’s claim that there was “no consistent and comprehensive system for recording and processing cases of antisemitism” until she took over her role in April 2018.
Ms Formby made the allegation last
Oversight role: Gardiner month as she unveiled data on investigations into antisemitism conducted by Labour on her watch.
The Labour leadership is facing intense questioning over their handling of cases — and have denied claims that individuals close to Jeremy Corbyn have repeatedly intervened in cases, including last week’s high-profile suspension of Chris Williamson MP.
Ms Formby has also faced questions about the appointment of a former adviser to Labour chairman Ian Lavery as head of the party’s governance and legal unit at the same time as she became general secretary.
On Wednesday, Thomas Gardiner was revealed to have advised that Labour member Kayla Bibby, who posted an antisemitic image from a far-right website, should not face immediate suspension because it was “anti-Israel, not anti-Jewish”. The JC
reported last month that there were fears among some Labour staff that cases of alleged antisemitism were dismissed before being properly considered by the party’s National Constitutional Committee (NCC).
MPs challenged the Labour leadership last month over the case of Ms Bibby, who described the image as, “The most accurate photo I’ve seen all year!”.
Ms Bibby, who attended Labour’s conference in September as a delegate from the Liverpool Riverside constituency, was let off with a warning.
Mr Gardiner, a councillor on London’s Camden Council, is believed to have overseen numerous other complaints about alleged antisemitism over the past year.
Ms Bibby was suspended last month after her local MP, Dame Louise Ellman, raised her case again at a meeting of the member Bibby, Tweet sent by a Labour after a year who was suspended
Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
A Labour spokesman said: “This is a malicious, selective briefing from a disgruntled former employee. It is a deeply unfair attack on staff working in good faith to apply the party rule book to individual cases and progress complaints through the party’s disciplinary processes.” A Labour Party source added: “He agreed that Kayla Bibby should be placed under investigation and the case was taken through the Party’s processes. It was not his ultimate decision, as shown in the email where he is asked for his “view”.
Meanwhile, two former members of Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) questioned Ms Formby’s comments on February 11 in which she suggested no earlier figures could be compiled on Jew-hate because there was “no consistent and comprehensive system for recording and processing cases of antisemitism”. One said: “All complaints went on a spreadsheet and had data files attached detailing the type of complaint. The system existed. I have no idea what Jennie Formby was talking about when she said there was no data from when she took over.
“I often had to fight to get the leader’s office to take cases of antisemitism seriously. Staff would recommend suspension
Chaos: Formby and they would argue it wasn’t necessary because the issue was anti-Zionist or anti-Israel. They say the complaints process has changed and it has got better but I know people who are still involved and they say it has not.
“The leader’s office are involved in the process. They don’t use Labour Party emails — they go out of the way to avoid it being on the Labour Party servers.”
A second source confirmed the party had stored data relating to antisemitism cases on an Excel spreadsheet which had been used to provide a “speedy and thorough” way for staff in the party’s compliance unit to make notes about individuals who were applying to join Labour but had made racist remarks in the past. Details were also kept on spreadsheets of Labour members disciplined over antisemitism, the same source confirmed. The source added that they were stunned at the length of time veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge was made to wait after submitting 200 complaints of alleged antisemitism to Ms Formby several months ago.
The same source revealed that they had once witnessed Seamus Milne, Mr Corbyn’s director of communications and strategy, laugh at one staff member who suggested Mr Corbyn make a speech outlining Labour’s commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East as a way of stemming the tide of stories on Labour antisemitism.
Earlier in the week, senior MPs said the decision to move Laura Murray to the body dealing with antisemitism cases “raised question marks” over its independence from the leadership.
Ms Murray, who has worked in the Labour leader’s office since 2016, is one of two junior staffers being seconded to the complaints unit.
Her father, Andrew, is a former Communist party member and chief of staff at Unite the Union and a close ally of Mr Corbyn.
The JC revealed on Monday that Ms Murray was being sued for libel by Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who has been campaigning against antisemitism in Labour, over a tweet.