Keir Starmer has ordered a review into a leaked internal report of the party’s handing of anti-Semitism claims.
Sky News says the leaking “has sent shockwaves through the party,” while the Evening Standard says the issue is Starmer’s “first test” as leader.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The dossier, which includes 10,000 separate emails and thousands of private WhatsApp communications, is a draft drawn up to help inform the party’s responses to an investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
It concluded that “factional hostility” to Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, hampered efforts to deal with allegations of antisemitism in the Labour party.
The report says there was an “abundant evidence of a hyper-factional atmosphere prevailing in party HQ… which appears to have affected the expeditious and resolute handling of disciplinary complaints”.
It claimed to have found “no evidence” of anti-Semitism complaints being treated differently to other forms of complaint, or of current or former staff being “motivated by anti-Semitic intent”.
However, writes the BBC’s political correspondent Helen Catt, another claim in the report makes the matter even more explosive.
At the 2017 general election, the report says, “some key staff even appeared to work against the party's core objective of winning elections”.
“It’s the allegation that Labour staff worked against a win for Mr Corbyn in the 2017 election that is likely to be most incendiary, if proven,” says Catt.
Richard Burgon, who was shadow justice secretary under Corbyn, said the revelations had prompted many party members to consider leaving.
-
Political cartoons for November 30Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the Saudi-China relationship, MAGA spelled wrong, and more
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
The US-Saudi relationship: too big to fail?Talking Point With the Saudis investing $1 trillion into the US, and Trump granting them ‘major non-Nato ally’ status, for now the two countries need each other
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
American antisemitismFeature The world’s oldest hatred is on the rise in U.S. Why?
-
Asylum hotels: everything you need to knowThe Explainer Using hotels to house asylum seekers has proved extremely unpopular. Why, and what can the government do about it?
-
Will Rachel Reeves’ tax U-turn be disastrous?Today’s Big Question The chancellor scraps income tax rises for a ‘smorgasbord’ of smaller revenue-raising options
-
The GOP: Will it welcome antisemites?Feature That Carlson would grant Fuentes access to his massive audience is proof that his hate ‘is entering the MAGA mainstream’
-
‘National dynamics will likely be the tipping point’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Will the public buy Rachel Reeves’s tax rises?Today’s Big Question The Chancellor refused to rule out tax increases in her televised address, and is set to reverse pledges made in the election manifesto
-
Nick Fuentes’ Groyper antisemitism is splitting the rightTalking Points Interview with Tucker Carlson draws conservative backlash
