Motion: Action on Antisemitism
Proposer: Catherine McKinnell
Seconder: Ruth Smeeth
The PLP notes that 10 months ago the British Jewish community took to Parliament Square for the Enough is Enough demonstration to demand the Labour Party take action against antisemitism; in response the PLP notes that the Leader of the Labour Party apologised for the “hurt and pain” caused by instances of antisemitism in the Labour Party and pledged to “redouble my efforts to bring this anxiety to an end”; the PLP acknowledges that on her appointment, the new General Secretary to the Labour Party vowed to introduce procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases and said the “stain” of antisemitic attitudes must be “completely eradicated” within the party.

In the months that have followed the PLP is dismayed that there remains such a backlog of antisemitism cases that are still to be investigated and a decision reached - in particular the high-profile cases that it was promised would be concluded by July 2018. The PLP is very concerned by recent reports that a number of cases of alleged antisemitic activity from high-profile members have been dropped.
The PLP calls on the Party leadership to adequately tackle cases of antisemitism, as a failure to do so seriously risks antisemitism in the Party appearing normalised and the Party seeming to be institutionally antisemitic.

The PLP calls on the party Leadership to provide a report to the PLP meeting in one weeks’ time detailing:

1. how many outstanding cases of antisemitism the Labour Party need to a) investigate b) consider at the NEC disputes panel c) prepare charge sheets to submit to the NCC d) await a NCC hearing;
2. How many complaints about antisemitism have been received and on how many occasions have NEC officers/the General Secretary used delegated powers to take no further action about these complaints;
3. How many FTE staff (not on any kind of long term leave) in GLU a) handle complaints and complainants b) investigate complaints c) process cases through disputes and NCC;
4. How much has been spent on external legal counsel on behalf of the NEC pursuing disciplinary cases against members;
5. Which Jewish community organisations have been consulted on the still un-reviewed antisemitism Code of Practice and what is the timetable for when this is set to be complete;
6. Which individuals/organisation has been commissioned to provide antisemitism training to members who must complete training as a sanction, when this training will be finalised and when this training will be rolled out;
7. Whether all members of the NEC on the antisemitism Disputes Panel have completed antisemitism training;
8. How many members who have been through the disciplinary process are waiting to commence antisemitism training;
9. What is the Labour Party’s maximum timescales for responding to members who report instances of antisemitism;
10. How the Labour Party is engaging with the targets of antisemitic abuse;
11. What process the Labour Party is implementing in terms of its duty of care to its elected representatives.

Amendment A - proposer Luciana Berger 
Delete: “The PLP calls on the party Leadership to provide a report to the PLP meeting in one weeks’ time detailing:” 
and replace with: “The PLP calls on the party Leadership to provide a written report and make a presentation to the PLP meeting in one week’s time (including the opportunity for members of the PLP to ask questions about the report in that meeting) detailing:”

Amendment B - proposer Graham Jones 
At the end of Question 2 add: “or issued a ‘Reminder of Conduct’ letter as an outcome to a complaint.”

Amendment C - proposer Luciana Berger 
At the end of Question 10 add at the end “whether the abuse has been reported by the target of the abuse or by a third party.”