Former employees who voiced their concerns were accused of undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Labor agreed to pay “substantial” damages to seven former employees who sued the party in a row of anti-Semitism.
The party issued an unqualified apology in Superior Court for making “false and defamatory” comments about seven whistleblowers who spoke on a BBC Panorama program last year.
Individuals had criticized the handling of complaints by leaders at the time.
Labor said they were wrongly accused of “bad faith” and caused “anguish, shame and pain” on the part.
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the payment was an “extraordinary moment” and underscored leader Sir Keir Starmer’s determination to confront the shadow of anti-Semitism looming over the party.
In the July 2019 program, Is It Anti-Semitic at Work ?, Several former party officials alleged that high-ranking figures close to the leadership at the time had interfered in the process of dealing with anti-Semitic complaints.
They also claimed that they had faced a huge increase in complaints since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.
In response, a party spokesman denounced them as “disgruntled former staff member” who had “personal and political axes” to solve. They were also accused of trying to undermine Mr. Corbyn.
Corbyn on Wednesday said the decision to settle the claims with an apology and “substantial payments” was “disappointing,” adding that the party’s legal advice was that “it had a strong defense.”
‘Valuable contribution’
Seven of the whistleblowers, Kat Buckingham, Michael Creighton, Samuel Matthews, Dan Hogan, Louise Withers Green, Benjamin Westerman, and Martha Robinson, took legal action and formally asked the Labor Party to apologize in court.
In a statement read in the High Court, Labor said they apologized without reservation and that they were determined to eradicate anti-Semitism in the party and the broader union movement.
“Before the broadcast of the program, the Labor Party issued a press release containing defamatory and false allegations about these whistleblowers,” the party said.
“We acknowledge the many years of dedicated and committed service that whistleblowers have provided to the Labor Party as members and as staff. We appreciate their valuable contribution at all levels of the party.
“We unreservedly drop all allegations of bad faith, malice and lies. We would like to apologize without reservation for the anguish, shame and harm caused by their publication. We have agreed to pay them damages.”
‘For a long time’
Labor also agreed to pay damages to the host of the show, BBC journalist John Ware.
He said Ware, an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked for the BBC for more than 30 years, was subject to “false and defamatory” comments before the show aired, which has now been withdrawn.
Shadow Attorney General Lord Falconer, who was attending court on behalf of the Labor Party, told the BBC that the deal had ended a “disastrous chapter.”
Labor also apologized to BBC journalist John Ware.
The BBC welcomed what it said was a “long-awaited” apology from the party for what were “painful and damaging personal attacks” on the integrity and character of those involved in the program.
He said Ware was a “reporter with an extraordinary record of excellence at Panorama for investigative journalism in the public interest” and “applauded the force” of the whistleblowers.
The legal settlement was well received by current and former Jewish Labor MPs, including Margaret Hodge and Ruth Smeeth, with the latter describing the complainants as “heroes.”
Labor MP Chris Bryant told the BBC that the party had been “swept up in the mud” and that he “really hoped this would be a time for us to move forward.”
The Jewish Labor Movement said the Panorama program had “shed light on the party’s failure to act” against anti-Jewish racism and the “growing culture of denial” within its ranks.
“Under new leadership, our hope is that the party will continue to demonstrate this readiness to change,” he said.
But the former Labor leader, Mr. Corbyn, said the legal agreement “runs the risk of giving credibility to misleading and inaccurate accusations about measures taken to tackle anti-Semitism in the Labor Party in recent years.”
He said it was a “political decision, not a legal one.”
“Our legal advice was that the party had a strong defense, and the evidence in the leaked Labor report that is now the subject of an NEC investigation led by Martin Forde QC strengthened concerns about the role played by some of those who participated in the Program.”
He said Mr. Forde must “fully address the evidence” in the “internal report” to “give our members the answers and justice they deserve.”
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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey described the deal as a “misuse” of party funds, suggesting that Labor had been warned that it would win the case.
Analysis of BBC political correspondent Helen Catt
For Labor, this is a costly and embarrassing result.
The leadership can hope that it will be a price worth paying if it signals the beginning of the end of the anti-Semitism row that has caused a real split in the party in recent years.
But it will?
For those unhappy with the party’s prior handling of the issue, the apology sets a marker that it really is “under new management.”
However, for some of those who were quite happy with the old leadership, this is going to be annoying and some are already making their unhappiness clear.
This is certainly a great time for Labor, but there are likely to be many more before this problem is solved.
McCluskey and other Corbyn allies, who retired in the spring after four years at the helm of the party, had urged Sir Keir Starmer to challenge the lawsuit.
Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC tweeted that “last minute legal disputes by lawyers on the part of the former Labor leadership team did not stop the apologies and agreements that ensued.”
Since being elected in April, Sir Keir has been eager to emphasize his commitment to eradicating anti-Semitism, pledging to fully implement the recommendations of an investigation by the equality regulator on Labor’s culture and internal procedures that will emerge. in September.
He recently fired Rebecca Long-Bailey from the shadow cabinet for retweeting an article containing what he considered to be a conspiracy theory.
