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Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, has suspended his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn after a damning official report on anti-Semitism in the UK’s main opposition party.
The move threatens to expose deep divisions within the party that still contains a large faction loyal to Corbyn, who said he would challenge the decision.
Sir Keir acted after reading Corbyn’s response to the equality watchdog’s findings that the party was guilty of “illegal acts of harassment and discrimination” related to anti-Semitism during Corbyn’s tenure.
Mr Corbyn wrote on Facebook that he did not accept all the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report, adding: “An anti-Semite is too much, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically exaggerated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the United States. party, as well as by a large part of the media ”.
His suspension, which marks Sir Keir’s determination to move the Corbyn-era party away from the “far left,” sparked comparisons to 1995 when former leader Tony Blair abandoned “Clause IV,” Labor’s totemic promise to nationalize the industry.
The investigation into anti-Semitism, which began in May 2019, found that Mr. Corbyn’s party was responsible for three violations of the Equality Act (2010) during his four years of leadership.
Those violations were related to harassment, political interference in anti-Semitism complaints, and the lack of adequate training for those handling complaints.
‘Clear and austere’
Sir Keir said the “clear and stark” findings in the 128-page report leave no room for misunderstanding for Britain’s main opposition party. “The report finds serious flaws in leadership, processes and culture in dealing with anti-Semitism within our party,” he said.
The Labor leader promised to implement all of the EHRC’s recommendations, including an improved complaint handling process, an updated social media code, and new training for staff.
Describing Thursday as a “shameful day,” he said: “On behalf of the Labor Party, I am very sorry for all the pain and pain that has been caused to the Jewish people.”
Sir Keir served as Brexit’s shadow secretary under Corbyn, but by becoming leader in April he vowed to root out anti-Semitism among members.
In his response to the EHRC report, Corbyn said the party’s processes for handling complaints were “not fit for purpose” when he became leader in 2015.
Attempts to reform them had been stalled by an “obstructive party bureaucracy,” he insisted, and after Jennie Formby became secretary general in 2018, there were “substantial improvements.” “My team acted to speed up, not hinder the process,” he wrote.
The intermediaries urged Mr. Corbyn to retract the statement, particularly the part that the claims had been “dramatically exaggerated.” But the 71-year-old “doubled” his position, according to people familiar with the conversations. “He dug in his heels,” said one.
It was David Evans, the party’s general secretary, who issued Corbyn’s suspension letter.
In announcing the suspension, the Labor spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and that he did not retract later, the Labor Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn.”
The announcement sparked a backlash from left wing “corbynists” like Aaron Bastani of Novara Media, who claimed: “It could be argued that there was a premeditated plan to crush the left.”
Sir Keir’s allies denied such claims. “This was not a pre-prepared attack by the left,” said one. “Jeremy’s own allies said ‘don’t do it.’ This was an act of self-destruction. “
The leader had avoided any personal criticism of Mr Corbyn in his earlier press conference, the ally noted.
Corbyn said on Twitter that he would “vigorously challenge political intervention to suspend me.” “I have made it absolutely clear that those who deny that there has been an anti-Semitism problem in the Labor Party are wrong,” he added. “I will continue to support a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of racism.”
Sir Keir previously fired Rebecca Long Bailey, his rival for leadership, as a spokesperson for education after accusing her of sharing an article containing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
Action plan
The party has until December 10 to draft an action plan to implement the EHRC’s recommendations, which is legally enforceable by the courts if it is not followed.
The EHRC identified “serious leadership flaws” under Mr. Corbyn and an “inadequate process” for handling complaints despite some recent improvements. “Our analysis points to a culture within the party that, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen as accepting.”
EHRC commissioner Alasdair Henderson said that Mr. Corbyn “is ultimately responsible for these failures.” “He made some improvements, but not enough,” he said.
The commission said Labor had not fully implemented the recommendations made by three investigations in 2016.
It said it had found 23 cases of inappropriate involvement of the leader of the opposition office in allegations of anti-Semitism. Although some were calls for tougher action, these interventions were “illegal action” that undermined Labor processes.
The worker complaints process was not adequately resourced, those responsible were not trained to the necessary standard, and many complaints were not even investigated, according to the report.
The commission identified two people by name, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Pam Bromley, a Labor councilor in Lancashire, whose anti-Semitic conduct was responsible for the Labor Party because they were its “agents.”
In a joint statement, three Jewish organizations – the British Jewish Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust – called the report a “damning verdict on what Labor did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies. “. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020
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