Proscribed group Labour Against the Witchhunt reportedly tells members to lie about political affiliation to avoid expulsion

The proscribed group Labour Against the Witchhunt has reportedly told its members to lie about their political affiliation to avoid being kicked out of the Labour Party.

This news comes amidst reports that members of Labour Against the Witchhunt have begun receiving letters of automatic expulsion from Labour for their association to the antisemitism-denial faction.

Last month, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) resolved to proscribe Labour Against the Witchhunt and the disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson’s Resist group, as well as two further far-left groups, paving the way for automatic expulsion of their members. It is believed that Labour Against the Witchhunt will be holding events in Brighton during Labour’s conference in the city. 

On its website, Labour Against the Witchhunt writes that some members who are expecting the Labour Party to bring forth charges of association with the banned group have considered saying: “I am not now nor have I ever been a member of Labour Against the Witchhunt.”

Labour Against the Witchhunt adds that its steering committee does not “consider this kind of response to be a betrayal of the comrades’ support for our organisation” but rather “quite the opposite”. It adds: “Comrades should not feel under any moral obligation to tell the truth to the witch-hunters, who have lied, sabotaged and smeared thousands of us. Much better comrades are able to continue the fight against the right wing inside the Labour Party – if they can stomach it.”

It has also been reported that that members of Labour Against the Witchhunt may form a new political party after being purged by the Labour Party.

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.

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.