As EHRC authorises Action Plan for Labour to “drive out antisemitism” CAA warns “Jewish community should be under no illusions” in months ahead
The Labour Party has today published its Action Plan, entitled “Driving out antisemitism from the Labour Party”, as required by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in its devastating report on antisemitism in the Party.
The Action Plan covers numerous areas, including the need for a culture change in the Party and an “Independent Antisemitism Complaints Handling Process”, as well as greater consultation with the Jewish community. Campaign Against Antisemitism has been calling for some of these steps for years and included them in recommendations to the EHRC, which has now mandated that Labour finally take them.
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The Action Plan authorised by the EHRC shows just how far Labour has fallen. Having found that the Party broke the law, the EHRC has rightly adopted a remarkably firm enforcement approach for two years, made all the more necessary by last month’s disgraceful expedited reinstatement of Jeremy Corbyn to the Party.
“We welcome this Plan, which includes numerous steps that we have demanded of the Party for years but which it is only now promising to implement after being ordered to do so by the EHRC. As the complainant in the EHRC’s investigation, we have been vindicated. We look forward to working with Labour to drive out antisemitism and restore the Party to its fiercely anti-racist past, but there is a long way to go.
“The Jewish community should be under no illusions: the Action Plan does not envisage an independent disciplinary process until a year from now. This extremely long delay is down to the Party’s refusal to hold a special conference of its membership to make the necessary changes to its rulebook sooner. Until then, our complaints against fifteen sitting MPs, including Mr Corbyn, will remain outstanding, and it will be impossible for British Jews to assess whether Labour is addressing antisemitism effectively.
“This document shows just how much Labour still needs to do to transform its culture and processes. The Action Plan provides a roadmap, but it is a very long road indeed.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Jeremy Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.
The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
