Party rejects ‘any suggestion’ it has acted unlawfully and says it will cooperate with EHRC

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Britain’s equality watchdog has said it believes Labour may have “unlawfully discriminated against people because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs” as it announced the first step of a statutory inquiry into the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints.

The party said it would cooperate with the regulator, while its increasingly outspoken deputy leader, Tom Watson, called on party officials to ensure no emails or records were deleted.

An Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) spokesperson said: “Having received a number of complaints regarding antisemitism in the Labour party, we believe Labour may have unlawfully discriminated against people because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs.

“Our concerns are sufficient for us to consider using our statutory enforcement powers. As set out in our enforcement policy, we are now engaging with the Labour party to give them an opportunity to respond.”

The regulator’s announcement followed legal complaints made by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and the Jewish Labour Movement last year, which have argued that the party was not compliant with equalities law.

The move is the first step in an investigatory process by the EHRC, and if the regulator concludes Labour has a case to answer it could go on to open a rare full inquiry under section 20 of the Equalities Act 2006.

Labour‘s antisemitism problem is institutional. It needs investigation | Adam Wagner Read more

The EHRC has only rarely taken action against political parties before. In 2010, the regulator ordered the British National party to rewrite its constitution to comply with race relations laws because the far-right party had banned black and minority ethnic Britons from becoming members.

Labour is embroiled in a further crisis over its handling of antisemitism complaints, amid accusations that party staff working in Jeremy Corbyn’s office intervened in individual cases.

A Labour spokesperson said: “We completely reject any suggestion the party has acted unlawfully and will be cooperating fully with the EHRC. Labour is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

“Antisemitism complaints received since April 2018 relate to about 0.1% of our membership, but one antisemite in our party is one too many. We are determined to tackle antisemitism and root it out of our party.”

Watson said he had written to the party’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, with whom he has repeatedly clashed with over the antisemitism issue in the past few days, to demand that she worked properly with the EHRC.

The senior Labour MP added: “All relevant files and data should be retained so that investigators can form a clear picture of the processes and culture around Labour’s response to antisemitism within our ranks.”

The EHRC will send a formal letter to the party at the end of this week or early next week that sets out draft terms of reference for a section 20 inquiry. Labour then has 14 days to respond.

If the regulator decides the reply is insufficient, it would then have the power to demand that Labour produces documents, emails and other evidence, as well as request interviews from staff, past and present.

In its reply to the EHRC letter, the party has the option of proposing its own reforms to its complaints processes. It could enter into a voluntary legal agreement with the regulator under section 23 of the Equalities Act in lieu of a full investigation.

Gideon Falter, the chairman of CAA, said: “It is a sad indictment that the once great anti-racist Labour party is now being investigated by the equality and human rights regulator it established just a decade ago.”

One member of Labour’s ruling NEC, Huda Elmi, who was elected by party members, called for the EHRC to be replaced, describing it as “a failed experiment”. She added: “We need to abolish it and bring back separate, well-resourced governmental bodies for each equality strand!”

Any full section 20 inquiry would examine whether Labour’s processes were compliant with equalities legislation and would recommend improvements. The only similar inquiry that has been undertaken by the EHRC was an investigation into the Metropolitan police.

It concluded that minority ethnic, gay and female police officers who raised complaints of discrimination expected to be victimised and feared reprisals. The EHRC called on the Met to overhaul its procedures to comply with the law.