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Labour 'in total disarray' over antisemitism allegations, campaigners claim

Activists warn anti-Jewish sentiment becoming 'institutionalised' in party and call unit responsible for tackling complaints 'disjointed, confused and chaotic'

Benjamin Kentish

Political Correspondent

Saturday 03 March 2018 20:04 GMT

Labour MP Ruth Smeeth says the party should allocate more resources to its compliance unit, which handles claims of wrongdoing by members (Rex)

Labour activists campaigning against antisemitism in the party have hit out at officials for failing to deal with allegations.

Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS) said the party’s compliance unit, which handles claims of wrongdoing by members, was “in total disarray”.

The group claimed antisemitism is becoming “institutionalised” in Labour and called for “immediate and decisive” action to address the issue.

Labour has been blighted by allegations of antisemitism in recent months, despite the party insisting it takes a no-tolerance approach to all forms of racism.

In some cases disciplinary hearings have been delayed for more than a year, while Jewish activists have also voiced concern that in others people have been let off lightly or allowed back into the party.

LAAS said the problem has got worse since the resignation of Iain McNicol as Labour’s general secretary earlier this month, despite the fact he is continuing in the role until a successor is chosen.

The group says it has reported thousands of cases of alleged antisemtism and bullying in the last year, the vast majority of which took place on social media.

But it claimed the response from the party’s compliance unit was often “disjointed, confused and chaotic”.

The unit reportedly responded to one allegation of online bullying by a Labour member by saying they had been unable to identify the person in question. LAAS said the user, who had already been suspended from the party, was clearly identifiable from their Twitter account.

The unnamed LAAS activist who reported the incident said: “I couldn’t believe what they were saying to us. The guy we had reported is a prominent Brighton-based activist and his suspension is very well-known, having involved several other Labour members. And compliance were saying they’d never even heard of him.

“There is something wrong in Labour’s compliance unit if they are making these sorts of mistakes. They just aren’t sorting things out at all.”

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

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1/14Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On Israel and Palestine

The simple fact in all of this is that Naz made these comments at a time when there was another brutal Israeli attack on the Palestinians; and there’s one stark fact that virtually no one in the British media ever reports, in almost all these conflicts the death toll is usually between 60 and 100 Palestinians killed for every Israeli. Now, any other country doing that would be accused of war crimes but it’s like we have a double standard about the policies of the Israeli government

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On Antisemitism in the Labour Party

As I’ve said, I’ve never heard anybody say anything antisemitism-Semitic, but there’s been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as antisemitic. I had to put up with 35 years of this

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On Naz Shah

It’s completely over-the-top and rude, but who am I to denounce anyone with all of that. It was wrong. I don’t think she is antisemitic, it was incredibly rude but I don’t believe she is an antisemite. When the NEC investigation is finished they'll say it was rude and over the top but they won’t find any evidence that she actually hates Jews. We’ve got to investigate all these charges and the context in which they are made. If she is antisemitic like the other three or four members we’ve found who are antisemitic, she’ll be expelled

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On other alleged antisemites in Labour

That is part of the classic antisemitic thing about an ‘international Jewish conspiracy’ – that is the reason we need to have an investigation. I’ve got an open mind. I’ve seen nothing to suggest to me that she is antisemitic. I wouldn’t have supported her if I [thought] she was antisemitic

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On whether what Hitler did was legal, as stated by Naz Shah

That’s a statement of fact – Hitler, I’m sure, passed all those laws that allowed him to do that … it’s history … literally, Hitler was completely mad, he killed six million Jews. She’s not saying it’s legal to kill six million Jews: what they were doing in that country allowed them not just to kill six million Jews, kill all the communists, kill all the leftists like me, my father almost died when a Nazi sub sank his boat. I have no sympathy with Hitler

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On another alleged antisemite in Labour

No, that is, and that’s why she’s been suspended or expelled. What I’ve said is that in 47 years of the party in all the meetings I’ve been in I’ve never heard anyone say anything antisemitic. There are bound to be in a party of half a million people you’ll have a handful of antisemites, you’ll have a handful of racists. You’ve managed to dig out virtually every antisemitic comment that Labour members have made out of half a million people. I’ve never met any of these people. There’s not a problem. You’re talking about a handful of people in a party of half a million people. Jeremy Corbyn has moved rapidly to deal with them

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the allegations

He met with Naz and she agreed she would stand down while the investigation is going on. He called her in to see her. There’s been a huge investigation of virtually everything that anybody put on the internet … many of these people are quite new and recent members of the party that joined in the big influx. 300,000 new people came in

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On his meeting a man accused of antisemitism in London

This is the man who called for Muslims around the world to donate blood after the attacks of 9/11 when he came to London I went with him to the Regent’s Park mosque where he said no man should hit a woman and you should not discriminate against homosexuals. So I can’t equate what I heard him say… he made no antisemitic statement while he was here in London. I don’t investigate people. I’ve simply said what I believe to be true which is that Naz was not antisemitic. She was completely over the top, very rude, but that does not make her an antisemite

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On John Mann’s comments

He went completely over the top. I was actually doing a radio interview at the time that he was bellowing that I’m a racist antisemite in my ear. I’ve had that with John Mann before a few weeks ago screaming that I was a bigot down the phone. I’m not an apologist for anyone who makes antisemitic statements. What I’m saying is don’t confuse antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli government policy

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On calling a Jewish journalist a “concentration camp guard” whilst Mayor of London

I can’t tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying ‘I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic’. We won the case

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On claims about Hitler and Zionism

I can’t tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying ‘I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic’. We won the case

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On John Mann

I’d simply say to John Mann go back and check. Is what I say true, or is it not? The BBC, you’ve got a huge team of researchers, it will take just an hour or two to go back and confirm. I was asked a question, I answered it. I have never in 45 years since I won my first election, I have never lied. I have always answered the question

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On raising the issue if Hitler

It lays you open to people smearing and lying about you. I’ve always answered the questions put to me and that simple fact is we’ve had a handful of people saying antisemitic things in the Labour Party, they’ve been suspended, some of them are on their way to being expelled, some of them have been expelled already

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said

On people calling for him to be suspended

All my usual critics – but the simple fact is I agree with them; there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour party. For them to suggest I am antisemitic is a bit bizarre considering we worked with Jewish groups and put on exhibitions about the scale of the holocaust, we worked with Jewish groups to tackling the scale of antisemitism back in the 1970s. I’ve always opposed every form of racism whether it’s against black people or Jews. I’m going to stay in the Labour party and continue to fight against all forms of racism and discrimination as I have my entire life

LAAS said other activists had received similar emails from party officials, including one which reportedly said the compliance unit had been unable to identify a person, despite them being a sitting Labour councillor.

Euan Philipps, a spokesperson for LAAS, said: “Our organisation puts a lot of effort into identifying and reporting antisemitism and abuse by Labour members, and we have engaged with the compliance unit previously to ensure our reporting procedures are aligned with their disciplinary processes.

“When mistakes like this happens, it does not engender confidence – in fact, it seems like the system is in total disarray.

“It is vital that the next general secretary, whoever he or she is, gets a grip on this as a priority. Antisemitism is becoming institutionalised within the party structures and without immediate and decisive action the problem will continue to worsen.”

Jeremy Corbyn's campaign team tackle accusations of antisemitism

Labour MP Ruth Smeeth, who has been the subject of antisemitic abuse, told The Independent: “Staff in the compliance unit are working as hard as they can with the resources they have.

“I don’t blame them for this. This is about political will. The Labour Party needs to allocate more resources to the compliance unit to make sure cases are being dealt with quickly and effectively.

“These people have no place in our party so we need to be dealing with allegations swiftly so that they can be thrown out.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “This is completely untrue. The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and is committed to challenging it in all its forms.

"Any complaints of anti-Semitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and action taken, including all complaints made by Labour Against Antisemitism.”

Labour sources said more than half the complaints sent by LAAS related to people who were not Labour members. LAAS said this suggestion was completely untrue and that it is careful to always provide supporting evidence.

The latest claims come days after LAAS suggested Unite official Jennie Formby, one of the frontrunners to succeed Mr McNicol, may have “acted with antisemitic intent”. It pointed to allegations she had objected to a 2016 inquiry into antisemitism being carried out by Baroness Royall on the grounds that the Labour peer was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group.

In response, Unite released a strongly worded statement calling the accusation a “malicious smear”. Ms Formby is currently the union’s south-east regional secretary and was previously its political director.

The statement said: “Jennie Formby voted for Ms Jan Royall’s appointment, and argued for her inquiry to be properly resourced by the party.

“Ms Formby is a lifelong opponent of antisemitism and all forms of racism. LAAS’s smears have no place in Labour’s democracy or political culture.”

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