In desperate quest for even-handedness highly-anticipated Forde Report fails to pin blame for Labour antisemitism scandal on its culprits

The highly-anticipated Forde Report into issues relating to antisemitism in the Labour Party has been published.

Specifically, the Report (which is the culmination of the inquiry led by Martin Forde QC into a mammoth leaked 2020 report into Labour’s handling of antisemitism complaints), was due to consider the allegations in that report, how it leaked, and the structure, culture and practices of the Labour Party in relation to antisemitism. The investigation into the leak itself was, however, shelved in order not to prejudice an investigation into the same leak by the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is believed to be ongoing.

The Report condemns the toxic factionalism of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, which allowed a culture of antisemitism to develop and undermined the procedures in place to address the ensuing complaints. But it also appears to try to divide the blame among the different ‘sides’ in the antisemitism scandal, failing to recognise that, whatever the sins of the various factions, that which contained the antisemites and their enablers was ultimately at fault for the Party’s unlawful victimisation of Jewish people.

One such example is that, incredibly, the Report expresses regret that Jewish Voice for Labour, the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, was excluded from delivering antisemitism education to the Party. It similarly outrageously rejects a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ in favour of a softer approach recommended by an organisation whose Director opposes the International Definition of Antisemitism. Despite the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Report also still appears to relegate antisemitism to just one of numerous racisms that need to be tackled by the Party equally, as if “all forms of racism” have been equally prevalent in the Party in recent years.

The Report does rightly observe that the problem of antisemitism in the Party in the Corbyn era was not overstated, contrary to repeated claims by Mr Corbyn. There is now no excuse for him not to be expelled from the Labour Party,  a move for which we have been calling for years now.

The Report applauds recent reforms to Labour’s disciplinary process, but still warns that they are vulnerable to factional abuse, which is no comfort to the general public, which has yet to witness the new semi-independent disciplinary process in action. However, the report offers no solutions either.

Our complaints against fourteen sitting MPs, for example, have yet to be acknowledged by the Party, much less investigated, and the Report gives no indication of what is to be expected to remedy that.

We have previously lodged a complaint against Mr 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 scathing findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension from the Party 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.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Taking even-handedness to an absurd extreme, the Forde Report tries to criticise and defend both ‘sides’ in Labour’s antisemitism scandal equally. One ‘side’ was filled with antisemites and their enablers. The Report failed to grasp this elemental truth, rendering it useless.

“Just one such example is the Report’s ludicrous suggestion that the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour, should not have been excluded from delivering antisemitism education to the Party.

“It raises more questions than it answers. It welcomes recent reforms to the disciplinary process, but warns that it remains vulnerable to factional abuse. It states that 55 cases were still unallocated as at March 2022, but does not say which ones. We can only assume that they include our complaints against sitting MPs, drafted by counsel, which the Party has yet to acknowledge, much less investigate.

“The Report offers neither explanations nor remedies. Until we see our complaints addressed, we are unable to have confidence in the Party’s leaders and processes, let alone its culture.”

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.