This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Metropolitan police have made three arrests in an investigation prompted by a dossier detailing antisemitic social media messages allegedly posted by Labour party members.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said that two men and a woman had been arrested during March on suspicion of publishing or distributing material likely to stir up racial hatred. Each has been released pending further inquiries.

It is understood the people arrested were Labour members or suspended from the party at the time the complaint was made but are no longer members.

The investigation was launched after the radio station LBC handed over the leaked dossier to the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, following an interview in September 2018.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: “On Tuesday 4 September, the Met commissioner was handed a folder of paperwork following a radio interview with LBC Radio in Leicester Square.

“It is alleged that the documentation included evidence of antisemitic hate crimes.”

It said the contents had been examined by specialist officers and a criminal investigation launched.

A man in his 50s was arrested in Birmingham on 7 March, and a second man, also in his 50s, was detained in Tunbridge Wells on 14 March, police said. A woman in her 70s was arrested in Wandsworth, south London, on 21 March.

All three were interviewed under caution and released under investigation.

The Met said it would not comment further on the details of the investigation.

A Labour party spokesman said: “We welcome the police investigating these individuals’ alleged crimes. Antisemitism has no place in our society and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.”