Labour’s deputy leader said gagging orders were not his party’s way

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, has criticised his own party for using gagging orders in a bid to silence former staff members over antisemitism allegations.

An hour-long BBC Panorama documentary entitled Is Labour Anti-Semitic?, to be broadcast on Wednesday, is set to include claims by up to half a dozen ex-Labour employees.

Sam Matthews, the party’s former head of disputes, has been warned by Carter-Ruck, Labour’s lawyers, that he may face legal reprisals for breaching his non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Watson said using expensive media lawyers to try to silence employees was futile and stupid. “It’s not the Labour way and I deplore it,” he tweeted.

Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, pledged to use parliamentary privilege to blow the whistle on anti-semitism in