Report, which accuses Rayner of antisemitism for sharing Jewish author’s article, was leaked to hard right site – and lists ‘new complaints’ against black peer, a string of MPs, members
This afternoon, within a few hours of the publication of the EHRC report that decided Labour had not been institutionally antisemitic – and Keir Starmer’s decision to act as if it had – the CAA (‘Campaign Against Antisemitism’) had sent a 72-page ‘complaint letter’ to Keir Starmer and party general secretary David Evans demanding action against at least thirty-two MPs and others over ‘new complaints’. The letter was leaked by the hard-right Guido Fawkes website.
Among those targeted by the letter are 11 Labour MPs, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and Labour’s first black woman MP Diane Abbott, as well as black woman peer Martha Osamor. Former front-benchers Rebecca Long-Bailey and Barry Gardiner are also listed, as are current front-benchers Mike Amesbury and Steve Reed.
The complaint against Abbott includes an objection to her saying she was proud of Labour’s record fighting racism and antisemitism and one for retweeting an article by a left-wing pro-Corbyn Twitter account.
Osamor’s alleged offences include sharing a letter published by the Guardian titled ‘A Palestinian view on the antisemitism row’ and signing a letter to former Labour general secretary Iain McNicol saying that the suspension of members “undermines serious thinking and discussion”.
As well as two leading black Labour representatives, the letter also draws a bead on at least three Muslims, for offences ranging from describing a Jewish person as white, to describing Muslim deaths in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and Afghanistan as a ‘holocaust’, to pointing out that the media does not treat antisemitism in the Tory or LibDem parties in the same way as allegations about the Labour Party.
Despite the EHRC report making no finding that Labour is institutionally antisemitic, the CAA letter states that “Institutional antisemitism is at the heart of the Commission’s findings and conclusions” – and demands an end to the confidentiality (which it calls ‘secrecy’ applied to disciplinary processes as a result of the Chakrabarti report, even though the EHRC report criticises Labour for not fully implementing Chakrabarti’s recommendations – which included a 2-year ‘statute of limitations on complaints.
The letter also resubmits its complaints against Jeremy Corbyn – many of which are a decade or more old – even though these had already been dismissed by the party and mentions Starmer’s power to withdraw the Labour whip from all the MPs it has listed.
Jewish Voice for Labour has previously called for the CAA’s charitable status to be revoked for a “highly politically partisan” stance and “inaccurate and insulting attacks” on a Palestinian academic. The CAA dismissed the call as ‘antisemitic’ in a statement on its website.
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