High Court rejects Labour activists’ claim that Party’s antisemitism investigation against them was unfair
The High Court has rejected a case by eight Labour activists who argued that an investigation into antisemitism-related allegations brought against them by the Party was unfair.
The ruling, made earlier today, concerned the group of claimants who call themselves “Labour Activists For Justice”. The group claimed that the Labour Party had broken its contractual agreement to treat the group fairly during the investigation process.
The group invoked the report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and argued that the Party refused to disclose certain procedural codes, used an outdated code of conduct, and misled the group regarding matters of confidentiality.
However, Mr Justice Butcher, presiding over the case, dismissed their claim, stating: “I do not consider that the Claimants are entitled to any of the three declarations sought, and their claim for them will be dismissed.”
The judge concluded: “I do not consider that it is correct to say that the [EHRC] found that the Party’s disciplinary processes, as recently improved, were fundamentally unfair. While it was certainly the case that the [EHRC] considered that there were still matters which could be further improved, and that the commissioning of an independent process was necessary to rebuild trust and confidence, this did not amount to a finding or indication that the present system could no longer be used.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “We welcome this important ruling that confirms our right to determine how we handle complaints. We are getting on with the job of reforming our processes, structures and culture for the benefit of all of our members and to ensure Jewish people feel safe and welcome in our Party.”
Last year, the Labour Activists For Justice group launched a crowd-funder to cover its legal costs, describing itself as “Labour Party members who have been caught up in the absurdities of [its] disciplinary processes.”
The crowd-funder was backed by the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), some of the members of which were also among the claimants in the case.
The Labour Party was found by the 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.
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.