Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

• DAVID Cheeseman’s letter (Commission deadline, November 26) fails to grasp the shortcomings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

He states that Jeremy Corbyn should have accepted its findings and apologised for anti-Semitism.

In fact, on November 10 Corbyn posted on his Facebook page a statement fully supporting Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept all the EHRC recommendations.

He also said he regretted the pain the issue had caused the Jewish community and said concerns about anti-Semitism were neither exaggerated nor overstated.

Corbyn had also said: “One anti-Semite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.”

However the EHRC report did not find Labour guilty of institutional anti-Semitism.

It “found that the Labour Party breached the Equality Act 2010 by committing unlawful harassment through the acts of its agents in two of the complaints we investigated”.

The commission investigated a number of complaints of anti-Semitism made against Labour Party members.

Overall the investigation found only four cases, two cases of harassment related to race, and two cases of indirect discrimination potentially worthy of disciplinary action.

The report identified a further 18 “borderline” cases of “unlawful harassment” where there was insufficient evidence to conclude that “the Labour Party was legally responsible for the conduct of the individual”.

The report suggested that there was a “culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it”.

But its findings clearly do not indicate a high level of anti-Semitism in the party.

Now, until the spring of 2018, Labour Party headquarters was controlled by a fiercely anti-Corbyn team.

According to the internal report of the Labour’s General and Legal Unit leaked last March (being investigated by the Forde Inquiry), these officials ignored anti-Semitism complaints, seeking to undermine Corbyn because of his left-wing views, including his support for Palestinian rights.

Shortly after Corbyn took over as leader, Corbyn commissioned Shami Chakrabarti to investigate anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

Her report made clear, as she stated in the foreword, that “the Labour Party is not overrun by anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism”.

Added to this, a home affairs select committee report concluded similarly that anti-Semitism was not more prevalent in the Labour Party than in other parties.

The Chakrabarti report was immediately kicked into the long grass although Corbyn several times requested its implementation.

The EHRC report concedes that improvements in the disciplinary process did occur over time but fails to highlight that this followed the appointment of a Corbyn ally, Jennie Formby, as general secretary in the spring of 2018.

Formby also released figures in February 2019 indicating that of 673 accusations of anti-Semitism received between April 2018 and January 2019, 96 were suspended, 12 were expelled, and six received sanctions. The 12 expulsions represent 0.1 per cent of the party membership.

The EHRC report is deeply flawed. Corbyn has been vilified by pro-Israel supporters because of his support for Palestinian rights. Starmer should restore the whip to him immediately.

SABBY SAGALL
Chair, Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign (personal capacity)