Labour antisemitism report: Keir Starmer apologises to Jewish community on ‘day of shame’

Sir Keir Starmer has ducked calls for the expulsion of Jeremy Corbyn from Labour, after the publication of a damning report on antisemitism which he described as a “day of shame” for the party.

But the Labour leader indicated that his predecessor can expect to face investigation by the party over issues like his support for an antisemitic mural, pledging that “it is our responsibility to look at all cases”.

Starmer accepted in full a report by the Equalty and Human Rights Commission which found, after a year-long investigation, that the party broke the law by failing to prevent “acts of harassment and discrimination”.

Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership it “did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it”, said the EHRC, which described Labour’s failure to act as “inexcusable”.

In a statement issued shortly after the report’s release, Mr Corbyn denied hindering action against antisemites, and claimed that the scale of the problem was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

Just moments later, Starmer told a press conference that anyone dismissing the problem of antisemitism as exaggerated was “part of the problem… and should be nowhere near the Labour Party”.

But under repeated questioning, he refused to discuss any disciplinary action against Mr Corbyn or members of his office, insisting that the report made no findings of wrongdoing by individuals, but only about “a collective failure of leadership”.

Conservative party co-chair Amanda Milling said: “Sir Keir Starmer remained by Jeremy Corbyn’s side when anti-Jewish racists were given free rein in the Labour Party.

“It’s time for him to hold those responsible for this sorry period in Labour’s history to account and expel Jeremy Corbyn.”

And Labour peer Lord Adonis called on Mr Corbyn to resign from parliament.

Sir Keir offered an apology to the Jewish community, saying: “The report’s conclusions are clear and stark - they leave no room for equivocation.”

“Most telling of all a clear breakdown of trust between the Labour Party, many of its members and the Jewish community. I found this report hard to read and it is a day of shame for the Labour Party, we have failed Jewish people.”

Speaking at a press conference, he added: “We failed the Jewish people, our members, our supporters and the British public. And so on behalf of the Labour Party: I am truly sorry for all the pain and grief that has been caused.”

The EHRC report found that under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, Labour was responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act, involving harassment, political interference in antisemitism complaints and inadequate training for those dealing with cases.

In two cases, Labour was legally responsible for comments by London mayor Ken Livingstone and councillor Pam Bromley “using antisemitic tropes and suggesting that complaints of antisemitism were fake or smears”, because the pair were acting as agents of the party. 

In a further 18 cases it was a “borderline” judgement whether the party was legally responsible for comments by councillors and candidates, while there were many more cases of antisemitic action by rank-and-file members.

The report found evidence of 23 instances of “inappropriate involvement” from the leader of the opposition’s office in the investigation of a sample of 70 complaints of anti-semitism – including one concerning the suspension of Mr Livingstone in which Mr Corbyn is named.

It found that the leader’s office closed down an inquiry into a social media message sent by Mr Corbyn as a backbencher, in which he signalled approval for a street mural showing hook-nosed bankers around a table held up by the bodies of the poor.

The EHRC gave Labour a legally-enforceable deadline of 10 December to draw up an action plan to show how it will live up to its commitment to be “a political party with zero tolerance of antisemitism”.

The EHRC’s interim chair Caroline Waters said there had been “inexcusable” failures, which “appeared to be a result of a lack of willingness to tackle antisemitism rather than an inability to do so”.

The Commission made clear that it was outside the remit of its investigation either to determine whether the Labour Party was “institutionally racist” or to make rulings on allegations against individuals.

But lead investigator Alasdair Henderson said: “As the leader of the party at the time, and given the extent of the failings we found and the political interference within the leader of the opposition's office, Jeremy Corbyn is ultimately accountable and responsible for what happened at that time."

Responding to the former Labour leader’s claim that the problem had been “overstated”, Mr Henderson said that the specific legal offences identified in the report amounted to only “the tip of the iceberg”, and that there were many more instances of antisemitic behaviour which did not meet the threshold for unlawful conduct.

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge - who faced disciplinary action for branding Mr Corbyn an antisemite to his face -  said the former leader had “shamed” the party and was now in “permanent denial” about the extent of the problems under leadership”.

But she dodged questions on whether Mr Corbyn should be suspended or face disciplinary action, saying: “He’s yesterday’s man. He is absolutely irrelevant.”

Former Labour general secretary Jennie Formby insisted that she and Mr Corbyn had brought in reforms that transformed Labour’s processes for tackling antisemitism, but acknoweldged that “mistakes were made along the way”.

The Jewish Labour Movement said that the report vindicated its campaign since 2015 to expose “a deepening casual culture of anti-Jewish racism” within the Labour Party.

“Today’s report confirms that our voices were marginalised and our members victimised,” said the group in a statement.

“As set out in forensic detail by the EHRC, the blame for this sordid, disgraceful chapter in the Labour Party’s history lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership - those who possessed both power and influence to prevent the growth of anti-Jewish racism, but failed to act.”

And the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: “The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews, who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour Party.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the report was a “historic nadir" for Labour and said the Jewish community will now work with Starmer to rid the party of  "the poison of antisemitism.”