Jeremy Corbyn suspended: 5 bombshell revelations in report including staff ordering party NOT to investigate him
JEREMY Corbyn’s staff directly ordered party officials not to investigate the Labour leader for anti-Semitism.
The cover-up after he praised a mural attacking Jews was highlighted in a damning report yesterday.
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission found three breaches of the 2010 Equalities Act, a law passed by a Labour government.
They relate to political interference in complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism cases and harassment.
The report said there were 23 instances of inappropriate involvement by Mr Corbyn’s office and others in the 70 files the watchdog looked at.
They included Leader of the Opposition staff influencing decisions — including on suspensions or whether to probe anti-Semitism claims.
COMPLAINTS DISMISSED
The report cited an example of such interference, from April 2018, regarding Mr Corbyn’s support for an “anti-Semitic mural” by a graffiti artist in East London.
The mural, later removed, pictured several apparently Jewish bankers playing a game of Monopoly, with their tabletop on the bowed, naked backs of several workers.
The EHRC said that in an email to the party’s legal unit responsible for complaints, Mr Corbyn’s aides said the complaint should be dismissed.
The email read: “The complaint itself seems to fall well below the threshold required for investigation and if so surely the decision to dismiss it can be taken now.”
The EHRC ruled “staff therefore directly interfered in the decision not to investigate in this case”.
The report said it was not legitimate for Mr Corbyn’s office to influence, make recommendations or decisions on complaints outside the formal process.
It found that interference “fundamentally undermined public confidence in the complaints process”.
‘INCONSISTENT, POOR & NOT TRANSPARENT’
And it concluded: “In short, Labour’s response to allegations of anti-Semitism was inconsistent, poor and not transparent.
The report identified Mr Corbyn’s office as taking part in political interference over complaints
It also said former London mayor Ken Livingstone, a Corbyn ally, had been among those to have harassed party members and had sought to dismiss complaints of anti-Semitism as “fake or smears”.
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The report recommends that Labour sets up an independent commission to handle anti-Semitism complaints.
The party should also admit political interference has affected the process and bring in clear rules and guidance that ban and sanction any inappropriate interference.
Labour’s code of conduct should also be updated with warnings of action against any party members peddling anti-Jewish hate.
This is a line in the sand moment
By David Blunkett, Former Home Secretary
JEREMY Corbyn was a disaster for the Labour Party.
But worse than that, he was a disaster for members of the Jewish community, who became fearful of life in Britain if he ever became Prime Minister.
Yesterday was a heartbreaking day for all right-thinking Labour Party members.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report laid bare the horrific harassment and intimidation that Jewish party members received at the hands of Corbynistas.
Complaints were ignored or interfered with by Jeremy’s office.
Members who had spent their lives in the party were hounded out.
Seven months on from Jeremy’s reign and the party still, tragically, has to deal with the horrors of anti-Semitism.
I found reading the report stomach churning. What had happened to our once great Labour Party?
But when I heard Jeremy’s response I was furious. He said the problem was “overstated” and had been peddled by political opponents to kill off his leadership.
This response is inexcusable. Jeremy didn’t just put his head in the sand and ignore the problem, he wilfully refused to accept that there ever was a problem.
He condoned the anti-Semites and now implies that the EHRC is part of the conspiracy against him.
There are seminal moments in the life of all political parties.
For Labour, I think of Neil Kinnock standing up to the bully boys of Militant, or Tony Blair ditching our obsession with nationalisation.
Sir Keir Starmer’s suspension of Jeremy is one of those moments. A line in the sand has been drawn.
We must let Jeremy have what was denied to so many victims of anti-Semitism — a fair and thorough disciplinary process.
But let’s be in no doubt — the Corbyn era must be confined to the dustbin of history.
Suspending Jeremy is not enough, however.
Keir Starmer must overhaul the complaints system by Christmas to restore the trust of the Jewish community, and those members who were hounded out.
We need action, not just warm words.
Labour members must vote in a National Executive Committee willing to back the leader and put this stain on our history behind us.
As a former member of Jeremy’s Shadow Cabinet, Sir Keir now needs to go the extra mile to show he is determined to get this right.
Never again must Jews feel that the Labour Party is not a safe place for them.
Never again must we stand back and watch as female Jewish Labour MPs are bullied and driven out of their own party.
Now is the time to promise Britain — never again.
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